The  Divine  Providence 


SWEDENBORG 


NEW  YORK 

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SOCIETY 
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Angelic  Wisdom  concerning  the 
Divine  Providence 


EMANUEL    SWEDENBORG 

First  published  in  Latin  at  Amsterdam,  1764 


NEW    YORK 

AMERICAN   SWEDENBORG    PRINTING  AND   PUBLISHING 
SOCIETY 

3  WEST  TWENTY- NINTH   STREET 


I9H 


TRANSLATOR'S    NOTE. 

The  same  aims  and  methods  have  been  followed  in  this 
translation  as  in  the  translation  of  the  Apocalypsis  Explicata. 
The  defeats  in  previous  translations  of  Swedenborg  have  arisen 
mainly  from  too  close  an  adherence  to  cognate  words  and  to  the 
Latin  order  of  words  and  phrases.  This  is  a  formal  rather  than 
an  essential  faithfulness  to  the  original.  To  convey  to  the  Eng- 
lish reader  the  meaning  of  the  original  with  the  utmost  attain- 
able accuracy  and  fulness  and  clearness  has  been  the  aim  and 
effort  in  this  translation. 

The  numbers  referring  to  the  Concordance  divisions  are 
omitted  in  this  edition,  being  sufficiently  indicated  by  the  para- 
graph divisions. 

The  very  full  index  to  this  edition  is  the  work  of  Mr.  George 
W.  Colton. 

JOHN  C.  ACER. 

March  22,  1899. 


CONTENTS 


I.  THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  is  THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE 
LORD'S  DIVINE  LOVE  AND  DIVINE  WISDOM  (n.  1-26). 

(i.)  The  universe,  with  each  thing  and  all  things  therein, 
was  created  from  Divine  love  by  Divine  wisdom 
(n.  3)- 

(ii.)  Divine  love  and  Divine  wisdom  go  forth  from  the 
Lord  as  a  one  (n.  4). 

1.  A  one  is  impossible  apart  from  a  form,  the 
form  itself  making  the  one  (n.  4). 

2.  The  form  makes  a  one  the  more  perfectly  as 
the  things  entering  into  the  form  are  dis- 
tinctly different  and  yet  united  (n.  4). 

(iii.)  In  a  certain  semblance  this  one  is  in  every  created 
thing  (n.  5). 

(iv.)  The  end  of  the  Divine  providence  is  that  every  created 
thing,  in  general  and  in  particular,  shall  be  such 
a  one  ;  and  if  it  is  not,  that  it  shall  become  such 
(n.  7). 

(v.)  Good  of  love  is  good  only  so  far  as  it  has  become  one 
with  truth  of  wisdom  ;  and  truth  of  wisdom  is 
truth  only  so  far  as  it  has  become  one  with  good 


of  love  (n.  10). 
id  o, 


(vi.)  Good  of  love  that  has  not  become  one  with  truth  of 
wisdom  is  not  good  in  itself,  but  is  apparent  good; 
and  truth  of  wisdom  that  has  not  become  one  with 
good  of  love  is  not  truth  in  itself,  but  is  apparent 
truth  (n.  14). 

The  Lord  does  not  suffer  any  thing  to  be  divided  ;  con- 
sequently it  must  be  both  in  good  and  in  truth,  or 
it  must  be  both  in  evil  and  in  falsity  (n.  16). 

That  which  is  both  in  good  and  in  truth  is  something, 
but  that  which  is  both  in  evil  and  in  falsity  is  not 
any  thing  (n.  19). 

The  Lord's  Divine  providence  causes  the  evil  and 
falsity  that  are  together  to  be  serviceable  in  the 


VI  THE  TUISINE  PROVIDENCE 


way  of  equilibrium,  of  relation,  and  of  purifica- 
tion, and  thus  in  the  conjunction  oj  good  and  truth 
in  others  (n.  21). 

II.  THE  LORD'S  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  HAS  AS   ITS  END  A 

HEAVEN    FROM    THE    HUMAN   RACE   (n.  27-45). 

(i.)    Heaven  is  conjunction  with  the  Lord  (n.  28). 
(ii.)    From  creation  man  has  an  ability  to  be  more  and 
more  nearly  conjoined  with  the  Lord  (n.  32). 

1.  How  man  is  more  and  more  nearly  conjoined 
with  the  Lord  (n.  33). 

2.  How  that  conjunction  appears  more  and  more 
near  (n.  33). 

(iii.)    The  more  nearly  a  man  is  conjoined  with  the  Lord  the 

wiser  he  becomes  (n.  34). 
(iv.)    The  more  nearly  a  -man  is  conjoined  with  the  Lord  the 

happier  he  becomes  (n.  37). 
(  v.  )    The  more  nearly  a  man  is  conjoined  with  the  Lord  the 

more  distinctly  does  he  appear  to  himself  to  be  his 

own.  and  the  more  clearly  does  he  recognize  that 

he  is  the  Lord  '  s  (n.  42). 

III.  THE  LORD'S  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  LOOKS  IN  EVERYTHING 

THAT   IT   DOES   TO  WHAT   IS    INFINITE  AND   ETERNAL 
(n.  46-69). 

The  Infinite  in  itself  and  the  Eternal  in  itself  is  the 

same  as  the  Divine  (n.  48). 

The  Infinite  and  Eternal  in  itself  must  needs  look  to 
what  is  infinite  and  eternal  from  itself  in  things 
finite  (n.  52). 

(iii.)  The  Divine  providence,  in  all  that  it  does,  looks  to 
what  is  infinite  and  eternal  from  itself,  especially 
in  saving  the  human  race  (n.  55). 

1.  An  image  of  the  Infinite  and  Eternal  in  the 
variety  of  all  things  (n.  56). 

2.  An  image  of  the  Infinite  and  Eternal  in  the 
fructification  and  multiplication  of  all  things 

(n.  56). 

(iv.)  An  image  of  the  Infinite  and  Eternal  is  presented  in 
an  angelic  heaven  (n.  60). 

(v.)  Looking  to  what  is  infinite  and  eternal  in  the  form- 
ation of  the  angelic  heaven,  that  it  may  be  before 
the  Lord  as  one  man  which  is  an  image  of  Him- 


CONTENTS  VII 

self,  is  the  inmost  of  the  Divine  providence  (n. 
64). 

IV.  THERE  ARE  LAWS  OF  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  THAT  ARE 

UNKNOWN    TO    MEN    (n.  70). 

V.  IT  IS  A  LAW  OF  THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  THAT  MAN 
SHOULD  ACT  FROM  FREEDOM  IN  ACCORDANCE  WITH 
REASON  (n.  71-99). 

(i.)  Man  possesses  reason  and  freedom,  or  rationality 
and  liberty  ;  and  these  two  faculties  are  in  man 
from  the  Lord  (n.  73). 

(ii.)  Whatever  a  man  does  from  freedom,  whether  it  be 
of  reason  or  not,  provided  it  is  in  accordance  with 
his  reason,  appears  to  him  to  be  his  (n.  74). 

(iii.)  Whatever  a  man  does  from  freedom  in  accordance 
with  his  thought  is  appropriated  to  him  as  his 
and  remains  (n.  78). 

(iv.)  It  is  by  means  of  these  two  faculties  that  man  is  re- 
formed and  regenerated  by  the  Lord  ;  and  with- 
out them  he  cannot  be  reformed  and  regenerated 
(n.  82). 

1.  Man ' s  first  state,  which  is  a  state  of  damna- 
tion (n.  83). 

2.  Mans  second  state,  which  is  the  state  of  re- 
formation (n.  83). 

3.  Man's  third  state,  which  is  a  state  of  regen- 
eration (n.  83). 

(v.)  By  means  of  these  two  facilities  man  can  be  so  far 
reformed  and  regenerated  as  he  can  be  led  by 
means  of  them  to  acknowledge  that  every  thing 
good  and  true  that  he  thinks  and  does  is  from  the 
Lord,  and  not  from  himself  (n.  87). 

(vi.)  By  means  of  these  two  faculties  the  conjunction  of  the 
Lord  with  man  and  the  reciprocal  conjunction  of 
man  with  the  Lord  are  effected  (n.  92). 

(vii.)  The  Lord  preserves  these  two  faculties  in  man  un- 
harmed and  as  sacred  in  the  whole  course  of  His 
Divine  providence  (n.  96). 

1.  Without  these  two  faculties  man  would  not 
possess  -will  and  understanding,  and  would 
not  be  man  (n.  96). 

2.  Withotit  these  two  faculties  man  could  not  be 
conjoined  with  the  Lord,  and  thus  could  not 
be  reformed  and  regenerated  (n.  96). 


VIII  THE  TllVINE   'PROVIDENCE 

3.  That  man  -without  these  two  faculties  could 

not  have  immortality  and  eternal  life  (n.  96). 

(viii.)    Therefore  it  is  [a  law]  of  the  Divine  providence  that 

man  should  aft  from  freedom  in  accordance  with 

reason  (n.  97). 

VI.  IT    IS    A    LAW    OF    THE    DIVINE    PROVIDENCE    THAT    MAN 

SHOULD  AS  IF  FROM  HIMSELF  PUT  AWAY  EVILS  AS 
SINS  IN  THE  EXTERNAL  MAN  ;  AND  THE  LORD  IS 
ABLE  IN  THIS  WAV  AND  IN  NO  OTHER  TO  PUT  AWAY 
EVILS  IN  THE  INTERNAL  MAN,  AND  SIMULTANEOUSLY 
IN  THE  EXTERNAL  (n.  100-128). 

Every  man  has  an  external  and  an  internal  of  thought 

(n.  103). 
The  external  of  man  s  thought  is  in  itself  of  the  same 

character  as  its  internal  (n.  106). 
The  internal  cannot  be  cleansed  from  the  lusts  of  evil 
so  long  as  the  evils  in  the'  external  man  are  not 
put  away,  since  these  obstruct  (n.  in), 
(iv.)    The  evils  in  the  externat  man  can  be  put  away  by 
the  Lord  only  through  man's  instrumentality  (n. 
114). 
(v.)    Therefore  man  ought  as  if  of  himself  to  put  away 

evils  from  the  external  man  (n.  118). 

(vi.)  Then  the  Lord  cleanses  man  from  the  lusts  \of  evil~\ 
in  the  internal  man,  and  from  the  evils  themselves 
in  the  external  (n.  119). 

(vii.)  //  is  the  unceasing  effort  of  the  Lord' s  Divine  pro- 
•  vidence  to  conjoin  man  with  Himself  and  Himself 
with  man,  that  He  may  be  able  to  bestow  upon 
man  the  happinesses  of  eternal  life  ;  and  this  can 
be  done  only  so  far  as  evils  with  their  lusts  are 
put  away  (n.  123). 

1.  The  Lord  in  no  wise  acts  upon  any  particular 
thing  in  man  singly  without  acting  simultan- 
eously upon  all  things  of  man  (n.  124). 

2.  The  Lord  acts  from  inmosts  and  from  out- 
mosts  simultaneously  (n.  I24[4]). 

VII.  IT    IS   A   LAW  OF   THE    DIVINE    PROVIDENCE    THAT  MAN 

SHOULD  NOT  BE  COMPELLED  BY  EXTERNAL  MEANS  TO 
THINK  AND  WILL,  AND  THUS  TO  BELIEVE  AND  LOVE, 
THE  THINGS  OF  RELIGION,  BUT  SHOULD  GUIDE  HIM- 
SELF, AND  SOMETIMES  COMPEL  HIMSELF  (n.  129-153). 


CONTENTS  IX 

(i.)   No  one  is  reformed  by  miracles  and  signs,  because 

they  compel  (n.  130). 
(ii.)    No  one  is  reformed  by  visions  or  by  conversations 

with  the  dead,  because  they  compel  (n.  134). 
(iii.)    No  one  is  reformed  by  threats  and  punishments,  be- 
cause they  compel  (n.  136). 

i%  The  external  cannot  compel  the  internal,  but 
the  internal  can  compel  the  external  (n. 
I36[2]). 

2.  The  internal  is  so  averse  to  compulsion  by  the 
external  that  it  turns  itself  away  (n.  136^]  >. 

3.  External  enjoyments  allure  the  internal  to 
consent,  and  also  to  love  (n.  I36[5]). 

4.  A  compelled  internal  and  a  free  internal  are 
possible  (n.  I36[9]). 

(iv.)   No  one  is  reformed  in  states  that  do  not  spring  from 
rationality  and  liberty  (n.  138). 

1.  In  a  state  of  fear  (n.  139). 

2.  In  a  state  of  misfortune  (n.  140). 

3.  In  unhealthy  mental  states  (n.  141). 

4.  In  a  state  of  bodily  disease  (n.  142). 

5.  In  a  state'  of  ignorance  (n.  143). 

6.  In  a  state  of  blindness  of  the  understanding 
(n.  144). 

(v.)    To  compel  oneself  is  not  contrary  to  rationality  and 

liberty  (n.  145). 

(vi.)     The  external  man  must  be  reformed  by  means  of  thj 
internal,  and  not  the  reverse  (n.  150). 

VIII.  IT  IS  A  LAW  OF  THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  THAT  MAN 
SHOULD  BE  LED  AND  TAUGHT  BY  THE  LORD  FROM 
HEAVEN  BY  MEANS  OF  THE  WORD  AND  BY  MEANS 
OF  DOCTRINE  AND  PREACHINGS  FROM  THE  WORD 
AND  THIS  TO  ALL  APPEARANCE  AS  IF  BY  HIMSELF 

(n.  154-174). 

(i.)    Man  is  led  and  taught  by  the  Lord  alone  (n.  155). 

1.  There  is  an  only  essence,  an  only  substance, 
and  an  only  form,  from  which  have  come  all 
the  essences,-  substances,  and  forms  that  have 
been  created  (n.  I57[2]). 

2.  That  only  essence,  substance,  and  form  is  the 
Divine  love  and  the  Divine  wisdom,  from 
which  all  things  that  have  relation  to  love. 
and  wisdom  in  man  are  derived  (n.  iS7[s]). 


X  THE  'DIVINE   TROYIDENCE 

3.  //  is  likewise  the  Good  itself  and  the  Truth 
itself  to  which  all  things  have  relation  (n. 
I57[6J). 

4.  These  are  the  life,  which  is  the  source  of  the 
life  of  all  things  and  of  all  things  of  life  (n. 

I57[7])- 

5.  This  Only  and  Itself  is  omnipresent,  omnisci- 
ent, and  omnipotent  (n.  I57[8]). 

6.  This  Only  and  Itself  is  the  Lord  from  eter- 
nity, or  Jehovah  (n.  I57[9]). 

(ii.)  Man  is  led  and  taught  by  the  Lord  alone  through  the 
angelic  heaven  and  from  it  (n.  162). 

(iii.)  Man  is  led  by  the  Lord  by  means  of  influx,  and 
taught  by  means  of  enlightenment  (n.  165). 

(iv.)  Man  is  taught  by  the  Lord  by  means  of  the  Word, 
and  by  means  of  doctrine  and  preaching  from  the 
"Word,  and  thus  immediately  by  the  Lord  alone 
(n.  171). 

1.  The  Lord  is  the  Word  because  the  Word  is 
from  Him  and  treats  of  Him  (n.  172(2]). 

2.  The  Lord  is  the  Word  because  it  is  the  Divine 
truth  of  the  Divine  good  (n.  I72[3]). 

3.  Thus  to  be  taught  from  the  Word  is  to  be 
taught  by  the  Lord  Himself  (r\..  I72[s]). 

4.  That  this  is  done  mediately  through  preach- 
ing does  not  take  away  the  immediateness  (n. 

I72[6]). 

(v.)  In  externals  man  is  led  and  taught  by  the  Lord  in 
all  appearance  as  if  by  himself '(n.  174). 

IX.  IT  IS  A  LAW  OF  THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  THAT  NO- 
THING OF  THE  OPERATION  OF  THE  DIVINE  PROVID- 
ENCE SHOULD  HE  EVIDENT  TO  MAN'S  PERCEPTIONS 
OR  SENSES,  BUT  THAT  HE  SHOULD,  NEVERTHELESS, 
KNOW  ABOUT  IT  AND  ACKNOWLEDGE  IT  (n.  175-190). 

(i.)  If  the  operation  of  the  Divine  providence  were  made 
evident  to  man  s  perceptions  and  senses  he  would 
not  aft  from  freedom  in  accordance  with  reason  ; 
nor  would  any  thing  seem  to  him  to  be  his.  It 
would  be  the  same  if  he  foreknew  events  (n.  176). 
(ii.)  If  man  clearly  saw  the  Divine  providence  he  would 
set  himself  against  the  order  and  tenor  of  its 
course,  and  would  pervert  and  destroy  it  (n.  180). 


CONTENTS  XI 

1.  Externals  are  so  connected  with  internals  as 
to  make  one  in  every  operation  (n.  i8o[>]). 

2.  If  man  should  be  at  the  same  time  in  the  inter- 
nals he  would  pervert  and  destroy  the  whole 
order  and  tenor  of  the  Divine  providence  (n. 
I8o[6]). 

(iii.)  If  man  clearly  saw  the  Divine  providence,  either  he 
would  deny  God  or  he  would  make  himself  to  be 
God  (n.  182). 

(iv.)  //  is  granted  man  to  see  the  Divine  providence  in  the 
back  and  not  in  the  face  ;  and  to  see  it  in  a  spirit- 
ual state  and  not  in  a  natural  state  (n.  187). 

X.  MAN'S  OWN  PRUDENCE  is  NOTHING  ;   IT  MERELY  APPEARS 

TO  BE  SOMETHING,  AND  SHOULD  SO  APPEAR  ;  BUT  THE. 
DIVINE  PROVIDENCE,  BECAUSE  OF  ITS  MINUTE  PAR- 
TICULARS, IS  UNIVERSAL  (n.  191-213). 

(i.)  All  of  man  s  thoughts  are  from  the  affections  of  his 
life's  love  ;  and  apart  from  these  there  are  and 
can  be  no  thoughts  whatever  (n.  193). 

(ii.)  The  affections  of  a  man's  life's  love  are  known  to  the 
Lord  alone  (n.  197). 

(iii.)  By  means  of  His  Divine  providence  the  Lord  leads 
the  affections  of  a  mans  life's  love,  and  at  the 
same  time  leads  his  thoughts,  from  which  human 
prudence  is  derived  (n.  200). 

(iv.)    By  means  of  His  Divine  providence  the  Lord  com- 
bines the  affections  [of  the  whole  human  race]  into 
one  form,  which  is  the  human  form  (n.  201), 
Heaven  and  hell  are  in  such  a  form  (n.  204). 
Those  that  have  acknowledged  nature  alone  and  hu- 
man prudence  alone  constitute  hell ;   while  those 
that  have  acknowledged  God  and  His  Divine  pro- 
vidence constitute  heaven  (n.  205). 

1.  Whence  man  s  prudence  is  and  what  it  is  (n. 
206). 

2.  Whence  the  Divine  providence  is  and  what  it 
is  (n.  207). 

3.  Who  and  what  those  of  each  class  are  (n.  208). 

(vii.)  None  of  these  things  could  be  done  except  from  the 
appearance  to  man  that  he  thinks  from  himself 
and  directs  all  thitigs  from  himself  (n,  210). 


XII  THE  1)1VINE   'PROVIDENCE 

XI.  THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  LOOKS  TO  ETERNAL  THINGS, 

AND   TO   TEMPORAL  THINGS    ONLY    SO    FAR    AS    THEY 
AGREE   WITH    ETERNAL   THINGS    (n.  214-220). 

(i.)    Temporal  things  relate  to  dignities  and  riches,  thus 
to  honors  and  acquisitions  in  the  world  (n.  215). 

1.  What  dignities  and  riches  are,  and  whence 
they  are  (n.  2150]). 

2.  What  the  love  of  riches  and  dignities  for  their 
own  sake  is,  and  what  the  love  of  riches  and 
dignities  for  the  sake  of  uses  is  (n.  2i5[6]). 

3.  These  two  loves  are  distinfl  from  each  other 
as  heaven  and  hell  are  (n.  2i5[io]). 

4.  The  difference  between  these  loves  can  scarcely 
be  made  known  to  man  (n.  2l5[i2]). 

(ii.)  Eternal  things  relate  to  spiritual  honors  and  posses- 
sions which  pertain  to  love  and  wisdom  in  heaven 
(n.  216). 

1.  Honors  and  possessions  are  blessings  and  they 
are  curses  (n.  2i7[i]). 

2.  When  dignities  and  possessions  are  blessings 
they  are  spiritual  and  eternal,  and  when  they 
are  curses  they  are  temporal  and  perishable 
(n.  2i7[3]). 

3.  Dignities  and  possessions  that  are  curses,  com- 
pared with  dignities  and  possessions  that  are 
blessings,  are  as  nothing  to  everything,  or  as 
that  which  in  itself  is  not  to  that  which  in  it- 
self is  (n.  2I7[6]). 

(iii.)  Temporal  things  and  eternal  things  are  separated  by 
man,  but  are  conjoined  by  the  Lord  (n.  218). 

1.  What  temporal  things  are  and  what  eternal 
things  are  (n.  2i9[i]). 

2.  Man  is  in  himself  temporal,  and  the  Lord  is 
in  Himself  eternal ;    and  therefore  only  what 
is  temporal  can  proceed  from  man,  and  only 
what  is  eternal  from  the  Lord  (n.  2i,9[2]). 

3.  Temporal  things  separate  eternal  things  from 
themselves,  and  eternal  things  conjoin  temp- 
oral things  to  themselves  (n.  2I9[4]). 

4.  The  Lord  conjoins  man  with  Himself  by  means 
of  appearances  (n.  2i9[s]). 

5.  The  Lord  conjoins  man  with  Himself  by  means 
of  correspondences  (n.  2I9[6]). 


CONTENTS  Xlll 

(iv.)  The  conjunction  of  temporal  things  and  eternal  things 
in  man  is  the  Lord  s  Divine  providence  (n.  220). 

1.  //  is  from  the  Divine  providence  that  by  death 
man  puts  off  what  is  natural  and  temporal, 
and  puts  on  what  is  spiritual  and  eternal  (n. 

220[2]). 

2.  Through  His  Divine  providence  the  Lord  con- 
joins Himself  with  natural  things  by  means 
of  spiritual  things,  and  with  temporal  things 
by  means  of  eternal  things,  according  to  uses 

(n.   220[4]). 

3.  The  Lord  conjoins  Himself  with  uses  by  means 
of  correspondences,  and  thus  by  means  of  ap- 
pearances in  accordance  with  the  confirma- 
tions of  these  by  man  (n.  22o[6]). 

4.  This  conjunction  of  temporal  and  eternal  things 
is  the  Divine  providence  (n.  22o[8]). 

XII.  MAN  IS  ADMITTED  INTERIORLY  INTO  TRUTHS  OF  FAITH 
AND  INTO  GOODS  OF  CHARITY  ONLY  SO  FAR  AS  HE 
CAN  BE  KEPT  IN  THEM  UNTIL  THE  END  OF  HIS  LIFE 

(n.  221-233). 

(i.)  A  man  may  be  admitted  into  the  wisdom  of  spiritual 
things,  and  also  into  a  love  for  them,  and  yet  not 
be  reformed  (n.  222). 

(ii.)  If  a  man  afterwards  recedes  from  these  spiritual 
things  and  passes  over  into  the  opposite  he  pro- 
fanes holy  things  (n.  226). 

1.  Whatever  a,  man  thinks,  says,  and  does  from 
his  will,  whether  good  or  evil,  is  appropri- 
ated to  him,  and  remains  (n.  22y[i]). 

2.  But  the  Lord  by  means  of  His  Divine  pro- 
vidence continually  foresees   and   directs,  in 
order  that  evil  may  be  by  itself  and  good  by 
itself,  and  thus  the  two  may  be  separated  (n. 

2I7[2]). 

3.  But  this  cannot  be  done  if  man  acknowledges 
the  truths  of  faith  and  lives  according  to  them, 
and  afterwards  withdraws  from  and  denies 
them  (n.  227[3]). 

4.  Man  then  mixes  together  good  and  evil  to  such 
an  extent  that  they  cannot  be  separated  (n. 

227[4]). 

5.  Since  good  and  evil  must  be  separated  in  every 


XIV  THE  ^DIVINE   TROflDENCE 

human  being,  and  cannot  be  separated  in  such 
a  one,  he  is  therefore  destroyed  in  respect  to 
everything  truly  human  (n.  227^])  . 

(iii.)    There  are  many  kinds  ofprofanation  of  what  is  holy, 
but  this  is  the  worst  kind  of  all  (n.  229). 

1.  The  first  kind  of  profanation  is  committed  by 
those  who  make  jests  from  the  Word  and  about 
the  Word,  or  from  the  Divine  things  of  the 
church  and  about  them  (n.  23i[i]). 

2.  The  second  kind  ofprofanation  is  committed 
by   those  who   understand  and  acknowledge 
Divine  truths,  and  still  live  contrary  to  them 
(n.  23  1[>]). 

3.  The  third  kind  ofprofanation  is  committed  by 
those  who  adapt  the  sense  of  the  letter  of  the 
Word  to  the  confirmation  of  evil  loves  and 

false  principles  (n.  23i[3]). 

4.  The  fourth  kind  of  profanation  is  committed 
by  those  who  say  with  the  lips  pious  and  holy 
things,  and  counterfeit  the  affections  of  love 

for  these  in  tone  and  in  gesture,  and  yet  in 
heart  do  not  believe  them  or  love  them  (n. 


5.  The  fifth  kind  ofprofanation  is  committed  by 
those  who  attribute  to  themselves  what  is  Di- 
vine (n.  23  1  [5]). 

6.  The  sixth  kind  ofprofanation  is  committed  bv 
those  who  acknowledge  the  Word  and  yet  deny 
the  Divinity  of  the  Lord  (n.  23i[6]). 

7.  The  seventh  kind  of  profanation  is  committed 
by  those  who  first  acknowledge  Divine  truths 
and  live  according  to   them,  but  afterwards 
recede  and  deny  them  (n.  231(7]). 

(iv.)  Therefore  the  Lord  admits  man  interiorly  into  the 
truths  of  wisdom  and  at  the  same  time  into  the 
goods  of  love  only  so  far  as  he  can  be  kept  in  them 
even  to  the  end  of  his  life  (n.  232). 

1.  Good  and  evil  cannot  be  in  man  s  interiors  to- 
gether, neither,  therefore,  the  falsity  of  evil 
and  the  truth  of  good  together  (n.  233[i]). 

2.  Good  and  the  truth  of  good  can  be  brought  into 
a  man  s  interiors  by  the  Lord  only  so  far  as 
evti  and  the  falsity  of  evil  there   have  been 
removed  (n.  233[3J). 

$     If  good  with  its  truth  were  to  be  brought  in 


CONTENTS  XV 

before  or  to  a  greater  extent  than  evil  with 
its  falsity  is  removed,  man  would  recede  from 
good  and  return  to  his  evil  (n.  233(4]) . 

4.  When  man  is  in  evil  many  truths  may  be 
brought  into  his  understanding,  and    these 
may  be  stored  up  in  the  memory,  and  yet  not 
be  profaned  (n.  23317]).  , 

5.  But  the  Lord  by  His  Divine  providence  takes 
especial  care  that  the  will  shall  receive  from 
the  understanding  only  so  fast  as,  and  to  the 
extent  that,  man  as  if  of  himself  removes  evils 
in  the  external  man  (n.  233[g]). 

6.  If  it  should  receive  faster  or  more,  the  will 
would  adulterate  good  and  the  understanding 
would  falsify  truth  by  mixing  them  with  evils 
and  with  falsities  therefrom  (-ft..  233[io]). 

7.  Therefore  the  Lord  admits  man  interiorly  into 
the  truths  of  wisdom  and  into  the  goods  of 
love  only  so  far  as  he  can  be  kept  in  them  to 
the  end  of  his  life  (n.  233[i3]). 

XIII.    THE  LAWS  OF  PERMISSION  ARE  ALSO    LAWS  OF  THE  Dl- 
VINE   PROVIDENCE  (n.  234-274). 

Some  things  enumerated  that  belong  to  permission,  and  yet  are 
in  accord  with  the  laws  of  Divine  providence,  by  which  a  merely 
natural  man  confirms  himself  in  favor  of  nature  against  God,  and 
and  in  favor  of  human  prudence  against  Divine  providence  (see  n. 
236-240).  First,  Some  things  from  the  Word  (see  n.  236). 

(i.)  The  wisest  of  mankind,  Adam  and  his  wife,  suffered 
themselves  to  be  seduced  by  a  serpent,  and  God  did 
not  avert  this  by  His  Divine  providence  (n.  241). 
(ii.)  Their  first  son  Cain  killed  his  brother  Abel,  and  God 
did  not  withhold  him  at  the  time  by  speaking  with 
him,  but  only  after  the  deed,  by  cursing  him  (n. 
242). 

(iii.)  The  Israelitish  nation  worshipped  a  golden  calf  in  the 
desert  and  acknowledged  it  as  God  who  led  them 
out  of  the  land  of  Egypt ;  and  yet  Jehovah  saw 
this  from  Mount  Sinai  near  by,  and  did  not  seek 
to  prevent  it  (n.  243). 

(iv.)  David  numbered  the  people,  and  in  consequence  a 
plague  was  sent  upon  them,  by  which  so  many 
thousands  of  men  perished ;  and  God,  not  before 
but  after  the  deed,  sent  Gad  the  prophet  to  David, 
and  denounced  punishment  upon  him  (n.  244). 


XVI  THE   -THY IN E   'PROVIDENCE 

(v.)    So/omon  was  permitted  to  establish  idolatrous  worship 

(n.  245). 

(vi.)    Many  kings  after  Solomon  were  permitted  to  profane 
the  temple  and  the  holy  things  of  the  church  (n. 
246). 
(vii. )    That  nation  was  permitted  to  crucify  the  Lord(\\.  247). 

Second,  Some  things  seen  in  the  \rorld  (see  n.  237). 

(i.)  Every  worshipper  of  himself  and  of  nature  confirms 
himself  against  the  Divine  providence  when  he 
sees  in  the  world  so  many  impious  people,  and  so 
many  of  their  impieties,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
glorying  of  some  in  these  impieties,  and  yet  no 
punishment  of  such  by  God  (n.  249). 

(ii.)  The  worshipper  of  himself  and  of  nature  confirms  him- 
self against  the  Divine  providence  when  he  sees 
the  impious  exalted  to  honors  and  to  high  offices 
in  church  and  state, -also  abounding  in  wealth 
and  living  in  luxury  and  magnificence,  -while  he 
sees  the  worshippers  of  God  despised  and  poor  (n. 
250). 

(iii.)  The  -worshipper  of  himself  and  of  nature  confirms 
himself  against  Divine  providence  when  he  re- 
flects that  wars  are  permitted,  and  the  consequent 
slaughter  of  so  many  men,  and  the  plundering  of 
their  wealth  (n.  251). 

(iv.)  The  worshipper  of  himself  and  of  nature  confirms 
himself  against  Divine  providence  when  he  refiefts 
according  to  his  perception  that  victories  are  on 
the  side  of  prudence,  and  sometimes  not  on  the 
side  of  justice ;  and  that  it  makes  no  difference 
whether  the  commander  is  an  upright  man  or 
not  (n.  252). 

Third,  Things  relating  to  the  religious  conditions  of  various 
peoples  (see  n.  238). 

(i.)  The  merely  natural  man  confirms  himself  against  the 
Divine  providence  when  he  considers  the  religious 
condition  of  various  peoples — that  there  are  some 
who  are  totally  ignorant  of  God,  and  some  who 
worship  the  sun  and  moon,  and  some  who  worship 
idols  and  graven  images  (n.  254). 

(ii.)  The  merely  natural  man  confirms  himself  against  the 
Divine  providence  when  he  sees  the  Mohammedan 
religion  accepted  by  so  many  empires  and  king- 
doms (n.  255). 


CONTENTS.  XVH 

(iii.)  The  merely  natural  man  confirms  himself  against  the 
Divine  providence  when  he  sees  that  the  Christian 
religion  is  accepted  only  in  the  smaller  division 
of  the  habitable  globe  called  Europe,  and  is  there 
divided  (n.  256). 

(iv.)  The  merely  natural  man  confirms  himself  against  the 
Divine  providence  by  the  fact  that  in  many  of  the 
kingdoms  where  the  Christian,  religion  is  accepted 
there  are  some  who  claim  for  themselves  Divine 
power,  and  wish  to  be  worshipped  as  gods,  and 
invoke  the  dead  (n.  257). 

(v.)  The  merely  natural  man  confirms  himself  against 
the  Divine  providence  by  the  facl  that  among 
those  who  profess  the  Christian  religion  there  are 
some  who  place  salvation  in  certain  phrases  which 
they  must  think  and  talk  about,  making  no  ac-. 
count  of  the  good  works  they  must  do  (n.  258). 

(vi.)  The  merely  natural  man  confirms  himself  against 
the  Divine  providence  by  the  facl  that  there 
have  been  and  still  are  so  many  heresies  in  the 
Christian  world,  such  as  Quakerism,  Moravian- 
ism,  Anabaptism,  and  others  (n.  259). 

(vii.)  The  merely  natural  man  confirms  himself  against  the 
Divine  providence  by  the  facl  that  Judaism 
still  continues  (n.  260). 

Fourth,  Things  relating  to  Christian  dodlrine  (see  n.  239). 

(i.)  A  doubt  may  arise  in  opposition  to  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence from  the  facl  that  the  whole  Christian 
world  worships  one  God  under  three  persons, 
which  is  to  worship  three  Gods,  not  knowing 
hitherto  that  God  is  one  in  person  and  essence,  in 
whom  is  a  trinity,  and  that  the  Lord  is  that  God 
(n.  262). 

(ii.)  A  doubt  may  arise  in  opposition  to  Divine  providence 
from  the  facl  that  hitherto  men  have  not  known 
that  there  is  a  spiritual  sense  in  all  the  particu- 

•  lars  of  the  Word,  and  that  its  holiness  is  there- 

from (n.  264). 

1.  The  spiritual  sense  of  the  Word  has  not  been 
revealed  before,   because  if  it  had  been   the 
church  would  have  profaned  it,  and  thereby 
have  profaned  the  essential  holiness  of  the 

Word  (n.  26^[2]). 

2.  The  genuine   truths   in  which  the  spiritual 
sense  of  the  Word  resides  were  not  revealed 


XVIII  THE  <DIVINE  VROWDENCE 

by  the  Lord  until  the  last  judgment  had  been 
accomplished,  and  the  new  church  that  is 
meant  by  ' '  the  Holy  Jerusalem ' '  was  about 
to  be  established  by  the  Lord  (n.  2641:4]). 

(iii.)  A  doubt  may  arise  in  opposition  to  Divine  provid- 
ence from  the  fact  that  hitherto  men  have  not 
known  that  to  shun  evils  as  sins  is  the  Christian 
religion  itself  (n.  265). 

(iv.)  A  doubt  may  arise  in  opposition  to  Divine  provid- 
ence from  the  fact  that  it  has  not  hitherto  been 
known  that  man  lives  as  a  man  after  death  ;  also 
that  this  has  not  been  disclosed  before  (n.  274). 

XIV.     EVILS  ARE    PERMITTED    FOR    THE    SAKE    OF    THE    END, 
WHICH    IS   SALVATION  (n.  275-284). 

(i.)  Every  man  is  in  evil,  and  mttst  be  led  away  front 

evil  in  order  to  be  reformed  (n.  2770). 
(ii.)  Evils  cannot  be  removed  unless  they  appear  (n.  278^). 

1.  Of  those  who  confess  themselves  guilty  of  all 
•    sins,  and  do  not  search  out  any  sin  in  them- 
selves (n.  278^1]). 

2.  Of  those  who  neglect  the  search  from  reli- 
gious reasons  (n.  278^2] ). 

3.  Of  those  who  for  worldly  reasons  think  no- 
thing about  sins  and  are  therefore  ignorant 
of  them  (n.  268^3]). 

4.  Of  those  that  favor  sins,  and  in  consequence 
are  ignorant  of  them  (n.  278//[4]). 

5.  To  all  such  sins  are  not  apparent,  and  there- 
fore  cannot  be  removed  (n.  278^5]). 

6.  The  reason  hitherto  hidden  why  evils  cannot 
be  remoaed  unless  they  are  sought  out,   dis- 
covered,   acknowledged,    confessed,    and   re- 
sisted (n.  278^6]). 

(iii.)  So  far  as  evils  are  removed  they  are  remitted  (n. 
279)- 

1.  //  is  an  error  of  the  age  to  believe  that  evils 
have  been  separated,  and  even  cast  out,  when 
they  have  been  remitted  (n.  27Q[2]). 

2.  It  is  an  error  of  the  age  to  believe  that  the 
state  of  man  s  life  can  be  changed  instantly, 
and  thus  from  being  evil  man    can  become 
good,  and  in  consequence  can  be  led  otit  of 
hell,  and  transferred  straight^oay  into  heaven, 


CONTENTS  XIX 

and  this  bv  fhe  Lord's  mercy  apart  from 
means  i'n.  279(^4] ). 

3.  Those  who  so  believe  know  nothing  whatever 
aboiitwhat  evil  is  or  what  good  is  (n.  279^] ). 

4.  Those  who  believe  in  instant  salvation  and 
mercy  apart  from  means  do  not  know  that 
affections,  which  belong  to  the  will,  are  no- 
thing but  changes  of  the  state  of  the  purely 
organic  substances   of  the    mind ;    and  that 
thoughts,  which  belong  to  the  understanding, 
are  nothing  but  changes  and  variations  in  the 

form  of  the  substances  ;  and  that  memory  is 
the  state  of  these  changes  and  variations  that 
remains  permanent  (n.  279[6]). 

(iv.)  Thus  the  permission  of  evil  is  for  the  sake  of  the  end, 
that  there  may  be  salvation  (n.  281). 

XV.  THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  is  EQUALLY  WITH  THE  EVIL 

AND    WITH    THE   GOOD  (n.  285-307). 

(i.)  The  Divine  providence,  not  only  with  the  good  but 
with  the  evil  as  well,  is  universal  in  every  least 
particular ;  and  yet  it  it  not  in  their  evils  (n. 
287). 

1 .  They  could  not  then  be  blamed  for  doing  evil 
(n.  2940]). 

2.  This  makes  evil  to  seem  to  be  from  the  Lord 
(n.  294[5]). 

3.  They  do  not  comprehend  how  the  Lord  alone 
can  cause  all  to  think  so  diversely  (n.  294[6]). 

(ii.)  The  evil  are  continually  leading  themselves  into  evils, 
but  the  Lord  is  continually  leading  them  away 
from  evils  (n.  295). 

1.  In  every  evil  there  are  things  innumerable 
(n.  2o6[i]). 

2.  An  evil  man  from  himself  continually  leads 
himself  more  deeply  into  his  evils  (n.  296^] ). 

3.  The  Divine  providence  with  the  evil  is  a  con- 
tinual permission  of  evil,  to  the  end  that  there 
may  be  a  continual  withdrawal  from  it  (n. 
296[7]). 

4.  The  withdrawal  from  evil  is  effefled  by  the 
Lord  in  a  thousand  ways,  and  even  in  most 
secret  ways  (n.  296[io]  . 


XX  THE  TliyiNE   TROYIDENCE 

(iii.)  The  evil  cannot  be  wholly  led  by  the  Lord  away 
from  evil  and  into  good  so  long  as  they  believe 
their  own  intelligence  to  be  everything  and  the 
Divine  providence  nothing  (n.  297). 

1.  One ' s  own  intelligence,  wken  the  will  is  in 
evil,   sees   nothing  but  falsity,   and  has  no 
desire  or  ability  to  see  anything  else  (n.  298[i]). 

2.  If  one' s  own  intelligence  then  sees  truth  it 
either  turns  itself  away  or  it  falsifies   the 
truth  ^n.  298[3]). 

3.  The  Divine   providence    continually  causes 
man  to  see  truth,  and  also  gives  an  affeclion 

for  perceiving  it  and  receiving  it  (n.  298^] ). 

4.  By  this  means  man  is  withdrawn  from  evil, 
not  by  himself  but  by  the  Lord  (n.  2g8[5]). 

(iv.)  The  Lord  governs  hell  by  opposites  ;  and  He  governs 
in  hell  the  evil  who  are  in  the  world  in  respecl 
to  their  interiors,  but  not  in  respeft  to  their  ex- 
teriors (n.  299). 

1.  That  the  Lord  governs  hell  by  means  of  oppos- 
ites (n.  307[i]). 

2.  The   evil  who  are  in  the   world   the    Lord 
governs  in  hell  (n.  soyfajl 

3.  The  Lord  in  this  way  governs  the  evil  in  the 
world  in  respect  to  their  interiors,  but  other- 
wise in  respecl  to  their  exteriors  (n.  3oy[3]). 

XVI.   THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  APPROPRIATES  NEITHER  EVIL 

NOR   GOOD   TO   ANY   ONE;    BUT   MAN'S   OWN   PRUDENCE 
APPROPRIATES    BOTH    ^n.  308-321). 

(i.)    What  one's  own  prudence  is,  and  what  prudence  not 

one's  own  is  (n.  310). 

(ii.)  Man  from  his  own  prudence  persuades  himself  and 
corroborates  in  himself  that  all  good  and  truth  are 
from  himself  and  in  himself ;  likewise  all  evil  and 
falsity  (n.  312). 

(iii.)  Every  thing  that  a  man  has  adopted  by  persuasion 
and  confirmation  remains  in  him  as  his  own  (n. 
317). 

1.  There  is  nothing  that   cannot  be  confirmed, 
and  falsity  is  confirmed  more  readily  than  the 
truth  (n.  3i8[2]  . 

2.  When  falsity  has  been  confirmed  the  truth   is 


CONTENTS  XXI 

not  seen,  but  from  confirmed  truth  falsity  is 
seen  (n.  3i8[s]). 

3.  An  ability  to  confirm  -whatever  one  pleases  is 
not  intelligence,  but  only  ingenuity,  which  may 
exist  even  in  the  worst  of  men  (n.  3i8[8]). 

4.  There  is  confirmation  that  is  intellectual  and 
not  at  the  same  time  voluntary  ;  but  all  vol- 
untary confirmation    is    also  intellectual  (n. 
3i8[9]). 

5.  The  confirmation  of  evil  that  is  both  voluntary 
and  intellectual  causes  man  to  believe  that  his 
own  prudence  is  everything  and  the  Divine' 
providence  nothing  ;  but  this  is  not  true  of  in- 
tellectual confirmation  alone  (n.  3i8[io]). 

6.  Every  thing  confirmed  by  both  the  will  and 
the  understanding   remains  to    eternity,    but 
not  what  has  been    confirmed  by  the  under- 
standing only  (n.  3i8[n]). 

(iv.)  If  man  believed,  as  is  the  truth,  that  all  good  and 
truth  are  from  the  Lord  and  all  evil  and  fals- 
ity from  hell,  he  would  not  appropriate  good  to 
himself  and  make  it  meritorious,  nor  appropriate 
evil  to  himself  and  make  himself  guilty  of  it  (n. 
320). 

1.  To  one  who  confirms  in  himself  the  appear- 
ance that   wisdom    and  prudence  ai~e  from 
man  and  are  in  man  as  his,  it  must  needs 
seem  that  otherwise  he  would  not  be  a  man, 
but  a  beast  or  a  statue  ;  and  yet  the  contrary 
is  the  tmith  (n.  32i[i]). 

2.  To  believe  and  think,  as  is  the  truth,  that  every 
good  and  truth  is  from  the  Lord  and  every 
evil  and  falsity  from  hell  appears  like  an  im- 
possibility ;    and  yet   it  is    the  truly  human 
principle,  and  therefore  the  angelic  (n.  32i[4]). 

3.  To  believe  and  think  thus  is  impossible  to  those 
who  do  not  acknowledge  the  Divinity  of  the 
Lord  and  who  do  not  acknowledge  that  evils 
are  sins ;    but  it  is  possible  to  those  who  do 
acknowledge  these  two  things  (n.  32i[6]). 

4.  Those  that  are  in  these  two  acknowledgments, 
so  far  as  they    shun  and    turn  ,away  from 
evils  as   sins,  need    only  to  refiect  upon  the 
evils  within  them,  and  to  cast  them  away  to 
the  hell  from  whence  they  are  (n.  321(7]). 

5.  Thus  the  Divine  providence  does  not  appro- 


XXII  THE  'DIVINE   TROWDENCE 


priate  evil  to  any  one  nor  good  to  any  one, 
but  his  own  prudence  appropriates  both  (n. 
32i[8]). 


XVII.  EVERY  MAN  MAY  BE  REFORMED,  AND  THERE    is  NO 

SUCH    THING    AS    PREDESTINATION   (n.  322-330). 

(i.)  The  end  of  creation  is  a  heaven  from  the  human  race 
(n.  323)- 

1.  Every  man  was  created  to  live  forever  (n. 
324[i])- 

2.  Every  man  was  created  to  live  to  eternity  in 
a  state  of  blessedness  (n.  324[6]). 

3.  Thus   every   man   was   created  to  come  into 
heaven  (n.  324(7]). 

4.  The  Divine  love  must  needs  "will  this,  and  the 
Divine  wisdom  must  needs  provide  for  it  (n. 


(ii.)  Therefore  it  is  of  the  Divine  providence  that  every 
man  can  be  saved,  and  that  those  are  saved  who 
acknou  ledge  God  and  live  well  (n.  325). 

1.  The  acknowledgment  of  God  causes  a  conjunc- 
tion of  God  with  man  and  of  man  with  God  / 
and  the   denial  of  God  causes  severance   (n. 
326[i]). 

2.  Every  one   acknowledges    God  and  is   con- 
joined with  Him  so  far  as  his  life   is  good 

(n.  3a6[6]). 

3.  Good  of  life,    or  living  rightly,  is  shunning 
evils  because  they  are  against  religion,  thus 
against  God  (n.  326[8]). 

4.  These  are  the  general  principles  of  all  reli- 
gions,  whereby  every  one    can  be  saved  (n. 


(iii.)  Man  himself  is  to  blame  if  he  is  not  saved  (n,  327). 

1.  In  process  of  time  every  religion  declines  and 
is  consummated  (n.  328[i]). 

2.  Every  religion  declines  and  is  consummated 
by   the  inversion  of  God's  image  in  man  (n. 
328[5]). 

3.  This  comes  from  the  continual  increase  of  he- 
reditary evil  from   generation  to  generation 
(n.  328[7]). 


CONTENTS  XXIII 

4.  Nevertheless   the  Lord  provides   that  every 
one  may  be  saved  (n.  3a8[8]). 

5.  //  is  provided  also  that  a  new  church  should 
take  the  place  of  a  former  devastated  church 
(n.  328[io]). 

(iv.)  Thus  all  men  were  predestined  to  heaven,  and  no  one 
to  hell  (n.  329). 

I.   Any  predestination  except  to  heaven  is  con- 
trary to  the  Divine  love,  which  is  infinite  (n. 


2.  Any  predestination  except  to  heaven  is  con- 
trary to  the  Divine  wisdom,  which  is  infinite 
(n.  33°[3])- 

3.  That  only  those  born  within  the  church  are 
saved  is  an  insane  heresy  (n.  33o[s]). 

4.  That  any  of  the  human  race  are  damned  by 
predestination  is  a  cruel  heresy  (n.  33o[8]). 

XVIII.  THE  LORD  CANNOT  ACT  CONTRARY  TO  THE  LAWS  OF 

THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE,  BECAUSE  ACTING  CON- 
TRARY TO  THEM  WOULD  BE  ACTING  CONTRARY 

TO  His  DIVINE  LOVE  AND  CONTRARY  TO  His  DI- 
VINE WISDOM,  THUS  CONTRARY  TO  HIMSELF  (n. 
331-340). 

(i.)  The  operation  of  the  Divine  providence  for  the  salva- 
tion of  man  begins  at  his  birth  and  continues  until 
the  end  of  his  life  and  afterwards  to  eternily  (n. 
332).. 

(ii.)  The  operation  of  the  Divine  providence  goes  on  un- 
ceasingly, through  means,  out  of  pure  mercy  (n. 

335)- 

(iii.)  Instantaneous  salvation  from  mercy  apart  from 
means  is  impossible  (n.  338). 

1.  The  belief  in  instantaneous  salvation  out  of 
mercy  apart  from  means  has  been  adopted 

from  the  natural  state  of  man  (n.  338[2]). 

2.  This  belief  comes  from  an  ignorance  of  the 
spiritual    state,    which    is   wholly  different 
from  the  natural  state  (n.  338[4]). 

3.  The  doctrines  of  the  churches  in  the  Christ- 
ian world,  viewed  interiorly,  are  opposed  to 
instantaneous  salvation  ortt  of  mercy  apart 


THE  'DIVINE   PROVIDENCE 

from   means ;  but  it  is  upheld,  nevertheless, 
by  the  external  men  of  the  church  (n.  3s8[8]). 

(iv.)  Instantaneous  salvation  out  of  mercy  apart  from 
means  is  the  "  fiery  flying  serpent"  in  the  church 
(n.  340). 

1.  Religion  is  abolished  thereby  (n.  34o[a]). 

2.  A   belief  in  instantaneous  salvation   out  of 
pure  mercy  alone  induces  a  security  of  life  (n. 

340W). 

3.  By  that  belief  damnation  is  attributed  to  the 
Lord  (n.  34c[s]). 


THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE 


THE    DIVINE    PROVIDENCE    IS    THE    GOVERNMENT   OF  THE 
LORD'S    DIVINE    LOVE   AND   DIVINE    WISDOM. 

I. 

TO  understand  what  the  Divine  providence  is, 
and  that  it  is  the  government  of  the  Lord's 
Divine  love  and  Divine  wisdom,  it  is  im- 
portant to  know  what  has  already  been  said  and 
shown  respecting  the  Divine  love  and  the  Divine 
wisdom  in  the  work  on  that  subject,  which  is  as  fol- 
lows :  In  the  Lord  Divine  love  is  of  Divine  wisdom, 
and  Divine  wisdom  is  of  Divine  love  (n.  34-39). 
Divine  love  and  Divine  wisdom  must  necessarily 
have  being  and  existence  in  other  things  created 
by  them  (n.  47-51).  All  things  of  the  universe  are 
creations  from  Divine  love  and  Divine  wisdom  (n. 
52>  53>  I5I~I56)-  All  things  of  the  universe  are 
recipients  of  Divine  love  and  Divine  wisdom  (n. 
55-60).  Before  the  angels  the  Lord  appears  as  a 
sun ;  and  the  heat  that  goes  forth  therefrom  is  lover 
and  the  light  that  goes  forth  therefrom  is  wisdom 
(n.  83-88,  89-92,  93-98,  296-301).  The  Divine  love 
and  the  Divine  wisdom  that  go  forth  from  the  Lord 


2  THb  THWNE 

make  one  (n.  99-102).  The  Lord  from  eternity, 
who  is  Jehovah,  created  the  universe  and  all  things 
thereof  from  Himself,  and  not  from  nothing  (n. 
282-284,  290-295).  These  things  are  treated  of  in 
the  work  entitled  Angelic  Wisdom  concerning  the 
Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom. 

2.  From  these  things,  in  connection  with  what 
is  set  forth  in  the  same  work  respecting  creation,  it 
can  be  clearly  seen  that  what  is  called  Divine  pro- 
vidence is  the  government  of  the  Lord's  Divine  love 
and  Divine  wisdom.  But  as  creation  was  the  subject 
there  treated  of,  and  not  the  conservation  of  the  state 
of  things  after  creation,  which  is  the  Lord's  govern- 
ment, the  latter  shall  now  be  considered.  The  sub- 
ject of  this  chapter  will  be  the  conservation  of  the 
union  of  Divine  love  and  Divine  wisdom  or  of  Di- 
vine good  and  Divine  truth  in  things  created ;  and 
this  shall  be  set  forth  in  the  following  order  : 

(i.)  The  universe,  with  each  thing  and  all  things 
therein,  was  created  from  Divine  love 
by  means  of  Divine  wisdom. 

(ii.)  Divine  love  and  Divine  wisdom  go  forth 
from  the  Lord  as  a  one. 

(iii.)    In  a  certain  semblance  this  one  is  in  every 
created  thing. 

(iv.)  The  end  of  the  Divine  providence  is  that 
every  created  thing,  in  general  and  in 
particular,  shall  be  such  a  one  ;  and  if 
it  is  not  that  it  shall  become  such. 
(v.)  Good  of  love  is  good  only  so  far  as  it  has 
become  one  with  truth  of  wisdom  ;  and 
truth  of  wisdom  is  truth  only  so  far  as 
it  has  become  one  with  good  of  love. 

(vi.)    Good  of  love  that  has  not  become  one  with 


CHAPTER   I..  N.  3  3 

truth  of  wisdom  is  not  good  in  itself,  but 
is  apparent  good;  and  truth  of  wisdom 
that  has  not  become  one  with  good  of  love 
is  not  truth  in  itself,  but  is  apparent 
truth. 

(vii. )  The  Lord  does  not  suffer  any  thing  to  be 
divided ;  consequently  it  must  be  both  in 
good  and  in  truth,  or  it  must  be  both  in 
evil  and  in  falsity. 

(viii. )  That  which  is  both* in  good  and  in  truth 
is  something  ;  but  that  which  is  both  in 
evil  and  in  falsity  is  not  any  thing. 
(ix. )  The  Lord's  Divine  providence  causes  the 
evil  and  falsity  that  are  together  to  be 
serviceable  in  the  way  of  equilibrium,  of 
relation,  and  of  purification,  and  thus 
in  the  conjunction  of  good  and  truth  in 
others. 

3.  (i. )  The  universe,  with  each  thing  and  all 
things  therein,  was  created  from  Divine  love  fry  means 
of  Divine  wisdom. — In  the  work  on  The  Divine 
Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom  it  has  been  shown 
that  the  Lord  from  eternity,  who  is  Jehovah,  is,  in 
His  essence,  Divine  love  and  Divine  wisdom,  and 
that  He  has  created  the  universe  and  all  things  of 
it  from  Himself ;  and  from  this  it  follows  that  the 
universe,  with  each  thing  and  all  things  of  it,  was 
created  from  the  Divine  love  by  means  of  the  Di- 
vine wisdom.  In  the  same  work  it  has  also  been 
shown  that  love  can  do  nothing  apart  from  wisdom, 
and  that  wisdom  can  do  nothing  apart  from  love. 
For  love  apart  from  wisdom,  or  will  apart  from  un- 
derstanding, cannot  think  anything,  or  see  or  feel 
anything,  or  even  say  anything  ;  so  neither  can  love 


4  THE  DIVINE  TROVIDENCE 

apart  from  wisdom,  or  will  apart  from  understand- 
ing, do  anything.  In  like  manner  wisdom  apart 
from  love,  or  understanding  apart  from  will,  cannot 
think  anything,  or  see  or  feel  anything,  or  even  say 
anything ;  so  neither  can  wisdom  apart  from  love, 
or  understanding  apart  from  will,  do  anything. 
For  when,  in  such  instances,  love  is  taken  away, 
there  is  no  longer  any  willing  and  thus  no  doing. 
As  this  is  true  of  man's  doing  anything,  much  more 
was  it  true  of  God,  when  He  who  is  love  itself  and 
wisdom  itself  created  and  made  the  universe  and 
all  things  thereof. 

That  the  universe,  with  each  thing  and  all  things 
of  it,  was  created  from  the  Divine  love  by  means  of 
the  Divine  wisdom  can  be  proved  by  all  things  sub- 
mitted to  sight  in  the  world.  SelecT:  any  particular 
objecl:  and  examine  it  with  some  wisdom,  and  you 
will  be  convinced.  Take  a  tree,  or  its  seed,  its  fruit, 
its  flower,  or  its  leaf,  gather  up  the  wisdom  that  is 
in  you,  examine  the  objecl;  with  a  good  microscope, 
and  you  will  see  wonderful  things ;  while  the  inte- 
riors that  you  do  not  see  are  still  more  wonderful. 
Observe  the  order  in  its  development,  how  the  tree 
grows  from  seed  even  to  new  seed,  and  consider 
whether  there  is  not  at  every  successive  step  a  con- 
tinual endeavor  to  propagate  itself  further ;  for  the 
final  thing  to  which  it  aims  is  seed,  in  which  its  re- 
productive power  exists  anew.  And  if  you  are  will- 
ing to  think  spiritually,  which  you  can  do  if  you 
wish,  will  you  not  now  see  wisdom  here  ?  And  if 
you  are  willing  to  go  far  enough  in  spiritual  thought, 


CHAPTER  I.,  N.  j  5 

will  you  not  see  also  that  this  power  is  not  from 
the  seed,  nor  from  the  sun  of  the  world,  which  is 
pure  fire,  but  is  in  the  seed  from  God  the  Creator, 
whose  wisdom  is  infinite ;  and  in  it  not  only  at  the 
moment  it  was  created,  but  continually  afterwards? 
For  maintenance  involves  perpetual  creation,  as 
permanence  involves  a  perpetual  springing  forth. 
It  is  the  same  as  if  you  should  withdraw  willing 
from  doing,  for  then  work  would  stop  ;  or  as  if  you 
should  withdraw  thought  from  speech,  for  then 
speech  would  stop,  or  as  if  you  should  withdraw 
effort  from  movement,  for  then  movement  would 
stop  ;  in  a  word,  if  you  should  withdraw  the  cause 
from  the  effect  the  effect  would  perish  ;  and  so  on. 

Every  such  created  thing  is  endowed  with  pow- 
er ;  but  power  acts  not  from  itself,  but  from  Him 
who  bestowed  the  power.  Examine  any  other  object 
on  the  earth,  as  a  silkworm,  a  bee,  or  any  other  lit- 
tle creature ;  look  at  it  first  naturally,  afterwards 
rationally,  and  at  length  spiritually,  and  if  you  are 
able  to  think  deeply,  you  will  be  astonished  at  it 
all ;  and  if  you  will  let  wisdom  speak  within  you, 
you  will  say  in  amazement,  "Who  can  fail  to  see 
the  Divine  in  these  things?  All  things  are  of  the 
Divine  wisdom."  Still  more  will  you  wonder  if  you 
examine  into  the  uses  of  all  created  things,  how  in 
their  order  they  follow  on  even  to  man,  and  from 
man  to  the  Creator  from  whom  they  are ;  and  how 
upon  the  conjunction  of  the  Creator  with  man  both 
the  connection  of  all  things,  and  if  you  are  willing 
to  acknowledge  it,  the  conservation  of  all  things, 


6  THE  •'DIVINE  TROWDENCE 

depend.  In  what  follows  it  will  be  seen  that  Divine 
love  created  all  things,  but  nothing  apart  from  Di- 
vine wisdom. 

4.  (ii.)  Divine  love  and  Divine  wisdom  go 
forth  from  the  Lord  as  a  one. — This,  too,  is  clear 
from  what  has  been  shown  in  the  work  on  The  Di- 
vine Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom,  especially  from 
the  following :  In  the  Lord  being  (esse)  and  going 
forth  (existere]  are  one  distinctly  (n.  14-16).  In  the 
Lord  infinite  things  are  one  distinctly  (n.  17-22). 
Divine  love  is  of  Divine  wisdom,  and  Divine  wis- 
dom is  of  Divine  love  (n.  34-39).  Without  a  mar- 
riage with  wisdom  love  is  unable  to  effect  any  thing 
n.  401-403).  Love  does  nothing  except  in  conjunc- 
tion with  wisdom  (n.  409,  410).  Spiritual  heat  and 
spiritual  light  in  their  going  forth  from  the  Lord 
as  a  sun  make  one,  just  as  Divine  love  and  Divine 
wisdom  in  the  Lord  are  one  (n.  99-102).  From 
what  has  been  shown  in  these  places,  the  truth  of 
this  proposition  is  evident.  But  as  it  is  not  known 
how  two  things  distinct  from  each  other  can  act  as  a 
one,  I  wish  to  show  here  that  a  one  is  impossible 
apart  from  a  form,  the  form  itself  making  the  one  ; 
and  next,  that  the  form  makes  a  one  the  more  per- 
fectly as  the  things  entering  into  the  form  are  dis- 
tinctly different  and  yet  united. 

A  one  is  impossible  apart  from  a  form,  the  form 
itself  making  the  one : — Any  one  who  thinks  intently 
can  see  clearly  that  a  one  is  impossible  apart  from 
a  form,  and  if  it  exists  it  is  a  form ;  for  whatever 


CHAPTER  I.,  N.  4  1 

has  existence  derives  from  form  that  which  is  called 
quality,  and  that  which  is  called  predicate,  also  that 
which  is  called  change  of  state,  also  that  which  is 
called  relativity,  and  the  like;  consequently  that 
which  is  not  in  a  form  has  no  power  to  effect ;  and 
what  has  no  power  to  effect  has  no  reality.  It  is 
the  form  that  gives  all  these  things  ;  and  as  all  the 
things  that  are  in  a  form,  when  the  form  is  perfect, 
have  a  mutual  regard  for  each  other,  as  link  has  to 
link  in  a  chain,  therefore  it  follows  that  it  is  the  form 
that  makes  the  one,  and  thus  the  subject,  of  which 
quality,  state,  power  to  affect,  and  anything  that  ac- 
cords with  the  perfection  of  the  form,  can  be  predi- 
cated. 

Every  object  seen  by  the  eyes  in  the  world  is 
such  a  one ;  also  every  object  not  seen  by  the  eyes, 
whether  in  interior  nature  or  in  the  spiritual  world. 
Man  is  such  a  one,  human  society  is  such  a  one,  the 
church  is  such  a  one,  also  the  whole  angelic  heaven 
before  the  Lord ;  in  a  word,  the  created  universe, 
not  only  in  general  but  also  in  every  particular,  is 
such  a  one.  But  in  order  that  each  thing  and  all 
things  may  be  forms  it  is  necessary  that  He  who 
created  all  things  should  be  Form  itself,  and  that 
all  things  that  are  created  in  forms  should  be  from 
Form  itself.  This,  therefore,  is  what  has  been  shown 
in  the  work  on  The  Divine  Love  and  the  Divine 
Wisdom,  as  follows :  Divine  love  and  Divine  wis- 
dom are  substance  and  are  form  (n.  40-^-43).  Di- 
vine love  and  Divine  wisdom  are  form  in  itself,  thus 
the  Very  and  the  Only  (n.  44-46).  In  the  Lord 


8  THE  THYINE  ^PROVIDENCE 

Divine  love  and  Divine  wisdom  are  one  (n.  14-22). 
They  go  forth  from  the  Lord  as  a  one  (n.  99-102, 
and  elsewhere). 

The  form  makes  a  one  the  more  perfetlly  as  the 
things  entering  into  the  form  are  distinctly  different 
and  yet  united. — Unless  the  understanding  is  raised 
up  it  can  scarcely  comprehend  this,  since  the  ap- 
pearance is  that  a  form  can  make  a  one  only  through 
likenesses  of  uniformity  in  the  things  that  make  up 
the  form.  On  this  subject  I  have  often  talked  with 
angels,  who  said  that  this  is  an  arcanum  their  wiser 
ones  perceive  clearly,  and  the  less  wise  obscurely  ; 
yet  it  is  a  truth  that  a  form  is  the  more  perfect  as  the 
things  that  constitute  it  are  distinctly  different,  and 
yet  have  become  one  each  in  its  own  way.  This 
they  showed  by  the  societies  in  the  heavens,  which 
taken  together  constitute  the  form  of  heaven ;  also 
by  the  angels  of  each  society,  in  that  the  form  of 
the  society  is  more  perfecl  in  proportion  as  each  an- 
gel is  more  distinctly  his  own,  and  therefore  free, 
and  thus  loves  his  companions  as  if  from  himself 
and  from  his  own  affection.  They  illustrated  it  also 
by  the  marriage  of  good  and  truth,  in  that  the  more 
distinctly  these  are  two  the  more  perfectly  they  can 
make  a  one ;  and  the  same  is  true  of  love  and  wis- 
dom ;  while  what  is  not  distinct  is  mixed  up,  giving 
rise  to  every  imperfection  of  form. 

Furthermore,  how  perfectly  distinct  things  are 
united  and  thus  make  a  one,  they  showed  by  many 
things,  especially  by  the  things  that  are  in  the  hu- 
man body,  where  innumerable  parts  are  thus  distinct 


CHAPTER   I.,  N.  5 

and  yet  united,  distinct  by  their  coverings  and  united 
by  their  ligaments,  showing  that  it  is  the  same  with 
love  and  all  things  of  it,  and  with  wisdom  and  all 
things  of  it,  which  are  perceived  only  as  a  one. 
More  respecting  this  can  be  seen  in  the  work  on 
The  Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom  (n.  14-22), 
and  in  the  work  on  Heaven  and  Hell  (n.  56,  489). 
This  has  been  adduced  because  it  is  of  angelic  wis- 
dom. 

5.  (iii.)  In  a  certain  semblance  this  one  is  in 
every  created  thing. — That  the  Divine  love  and  the 
Divine  wisdom,  which  are  a  one  in  the  Lord  and  go 
forth  from  Him  as  a  one,  are  in  every  created  thing 
in  a  certain  semblance  can  be  seen  from  what  is 
shown  throughout  the  work  on  The  Divine  Love 
and  the  Divine  Wisdom,  and  especially  from  what  is 
said  in  n.  47-51,  55-60,  282-284,  290-295,  313-318, 
319-326,  349-357,  where  it  is  shown  that  the  Divine 
is  in  every  created  thing,  because  God  the  Creator, 
who  is  the  Lord  from  eternity,  produced  from  Him- 
self the  sun  of  the  spiritual  world,  and  through  that 
sun  all  things  of  the  universe,  consequently  that  that 
sun,  which  is  from  the  Lord,  and  in  which  the  Lord 
is,  is  not  only  the  first  substance  but  is  also  the  only 
substance  from  which  all  things  are ;  and  since  this 
is  the  only  substance,  it  follows  that  it  is  in  every 
created  thing,  but  with  infinite  variety  according  to 
uses. 

Now  since  Divine  love  and  Divine  wisdom  are 
in  the  Lord,  and  since  Divine  fire  and  brightness 


10  THE  DIVINE  TROW  DEUCE 

are  in  that  sun  from  Him,  and  spiritual  heat  and 
spiritual  light  are  from  that  sun,  and  these  two 
make  a  one,  it  follows  that  in  a  certain  semblance 
this  one  is  in  every  created  thing.  Because  of  this 
all  things  in  the  universe  have  relation  to  good  and 
truth,  and,  in  fact,  to  their  conjunction,  or  what  is 
the  same,  all  things  in  the  universe  have  relation 
to  love  and  wisdom  and  to  their  conjunction,  since 
good  belongs  to  love  and  truth  to  wisdom  ;  for  love 
calls  all  that  pertains  to  it  good,  and  wisdom  calls  all 
that  pertains  to  it  truth.  That  there  is  a  conjunction 
of  these  in  every  created  thing  will  be  seen  in  what 
follows. 

6u  Many  admit  that  there  is  an  only  substance 
which  is  the  first  substance  and  the  source  of  all 
things,  but  what  kind  of  a  substance  it  is  they  do 
not  know.  They  believe  it  to  be  so  simple  that 
nothing  is  simpler  ;  that  it  may  be  compared  to  a 
point  with  no  dimension  ;  and  that  from  an  infinite 
number  of  such  the  forms  of  dimension  came  into 
existence.  This,  however,  is  a  fallacy  originating  in 
the  idea  of  space  ;  for  the  idea  of  space  seems  to 
make  such  at  least  necessary.  But  the  truth  is  that 
the  simpler  and  purer  any  thing  is,  the  more  and 
the  fuller  it  is.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  more 
deeply  any  object  is  examined,  the  more  wonderful, 
perfect,  and  beautiful  are  the  things  seen  in  it ;  and 
thus  that  the  most  wonderful,  perfect,  and  beautiful( 
of  all  are  in  the  first  substance.  This  is  true  be- 
cause the  first  substance  is  from  the  spiritual  sun, 
which,  as  has  been  said,  is  from  the  Lord,  and  in 


CHAPTER  /.,  N.  7  11 

which  the  Lord  is,  therefore  that  sun  is  itself  the 
only  substance  ;  and  as  this  substance  is  not  in  space 
it  is  the  all  in  all,  and  is  in  the  greatest  and  the  least 
things  of  the  created  universe. 

Since  that  sun  is  the  first  and  only  substance, 
from  which  all  things  are,  it  follows  that  infinitely 
more  things  are  in  that  substance  than  can  appear 
in  the  substances  that  spring  from  it,  whfch  are 
called  substantiate  [or  composite],  and  at  length 
material.  These  things  cannot  appear  in  those  sub- 
stances, because  they  descend  from  that  sun  by  de- 
grees of  a  twofold  kind,  in  accordance  with  which  all 
perfections  decrease.  For  this  reason,  as  said  above, 
the  more  deeply  any  thing  is  examined,  the  more 
wonderful,  perfect,  and  beautiful  are  the  things  that 
are  seen.  This  has  been  said  to  show  that  in  a  cer- 
tain semblance  the  Divine  is  in  every  created  thing, 
but  becomes  less  and  less  apparent  in  its  descent 
through  the  degrees,  and  still  less  apparent  when  a 
lower  degree  has  become  separated  from  a, higher 
by  the  closing  up  of  the  higher,  and  by  becoming 
itself  choked  up  with  earthy  matters.  This,  how- 
ever, must  needs  seem  obscure,  unless  one  has  read 
and  understood  what  has  been  presented  in  the 
work  on  The  Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom 
respecting  the  spiritual  sun  (n.  83-172),  respecting 
degrees (  n.  173-281),  and  respecting  the  creation  of 
the  universe  (n.  282-357). 

7,  (iv. )  The  end  of  the  Divine  providence  is 
that  every  created  thing,  in  general  and  in  par- 


12  THE  ^DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

ticular,  shall  be  such  a  one ;  and  if  it  is  not,  that 
it  shall  become  such  ;  that  is,  that  in  every  created 
thing  there  shall  be  something  both  from  the  Di- 
vine love  and  from  the  Divine  wisdom  ;  or,  what  is 
the  same,  that  in  every  created  thing  there  shall  be 
good  arid  truth,  that  is,  a  conjunction  of  good  and 
truth.  Since  good  is  of  love  and  truth  is  of  wisdom, 
(as  has  been  said  above,  n.  5, )  in  the  following  pages 
the  terms  good  and  truth  will  be  used  throughout 
instead  of  love  and  wisdom,  and  the  marriage  of 
good  and  truth  instead  of  the  union  of  love  and 
wisdom. 

8.  From  a  preceding  article  it  is  evident  that 
the  Divine  love  and  the  Divine  wisdom,  which  in  the 
Lord  are  one,  and  which  go  forth  as  one  from  the 
Lord,  in  a  certain  semblance  are  in  every  thing 
created  by  Him.  And  now  something  shall  be  said 
specifically  about  that  oneness  or  union  that  is 
called  the  marriage  of  good  and  truth.  That  mar- 
riage is  (i.)  In  the  Lord  Himself ;  for  Divine  love 
and  Divine  wisdom,  as  has  been  said,  are  a  one  in 
Him.  (2.)  It  is  from  the  Lord  ;  for  in  everything 
that  goes  forth  from  Him  love  and  wisdom  are  fully 
united,  these  two  going  forth  from  the  Lord  as  a 
sun,  the  Divine  love  as  the  heat,  and  the  Divine  wis- 
dom as  the  light.  (3.)  These  are,  indeed,  received 
by  the  angels  as  two,  but  are  made  one  in  them  by 
the  Lord  ;  and  the  same  is  true  of  men  of  the  church. 
(4. )  Because  of  this  influx  of  love  and  wisdom  from 
the  Lord  as  a  one  into  angels  of  heaven  and  men 
of  the  church,  and  because  of  the  reception  of  these 


CHAPTER  /.,  N.  9  13 

by  angels  and  men,  the  Lord  is  called  in  the  Word 
the  ' '  Bridegroom' '  and  the  ' '  Husband, ' '  and  heaven 
and  the  church  are  called  the  "bride"  and  the 
"wife."  (5.)  Therefore,  so  far  as  heaven  and  the 
church  in  general  or  an  angel  of  heaven  and  a  man 
of  the  church  individually  are  in  that  union,  that  is, 
in  the  marriage  of  good  and  truth,  they  are  an 
image  and  likeness  of  the  Lord,  because  good  and 
truth  are  a  one  in  the  Lord,  and  even  are  the  Lord. 
(6. )  In  heaven  and  in  the  church  in  general,  or  in 
an  angel  of  heaven  or  a  man  of  the  church,  love  and 
wisdom  are  a  one  when  the  will  and  the  understand- 
ing, and  thus  good  and  truth,  make  a  one,  or  what 
is  the  same,  when  charity  and  faith  make  a  one,  or 
what  is  still  the  same,  when  doctrine  from  the  Word 
and  a  life  according  to  it  make  a  one.  (7.)  How 
these  two  make  a  one  in  man  and  in  all  things  be- 
longing to  him  has  been  shown  in  the  work  on  The 
Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom,  in  Part  Five, 
where  the  creation  of  man,  and  especially  the  corre- 
spondence of  the  will  and  understanding  with  the 
heart  and  lungs,  are  treated  of  (n.  358-432). 

9.  How  these  make  a  one  in  things  below  man 
or  outside  of  him,  both  those  in  the  animal  kingdom 
and  those  in  the  vegetable  kingdom,  will  be  told 
further  on.  Here  three  things -must  be  premised  : 
First,  In  the  universe  and  in  each  thing  and  all 
things  of  it  which  the  Lord  created  there  was  a 
marriage  of  good  and  truth.  Second,  After  creation 
this  marriage  was  severed  in  man.  Third,  It  is  the 
end  of  Divine  providence  that  what  is  severed  shall 


14  THE  WINE  'PROVIDENCE 

become  one,  and  thus  the  marriage  of  good  and 
truth  be  restored.  As  these  three  things  are  fully 
shown  in  the  work  on  The  Divine  Love  and  the  Di- 
vine Wisdom,  further  proof  is  unnecessary.  More- 
over, any  one  can  see  from  reason  that  as  there  was 
by  creation  a  marriage  of  good  and  truth  in  every 
created  thing,  and  as  this  marriage  was  afterwards 
severed,  the  Lord  must  be  continually  working  to 
restore  it,  and  therefore  its  restoration,  and  the  con- 
sequent conjunction  of  the  created  universe  with  the 
Lord  through  man,  must  be  the  end  of  Divine 
providence. 

10.  (v. )  Good  of  love  is  good  only  so  far  as  it 
has  become  one  with  truth  of  wisdom  ;  and  truth  of 
wisdom  is  truth  only  so  far  as  it  has  become  one 
with  good  of  love.  — Good  and  truth  derive  this  from 
their  origin.      Good  has  its  origin  in  the  Lord,  and 
likewise  truth,  for  the  Lord  is  good  itself  and  truth 
itself ;  and  in  Him  the  two  are  one.    For  this  reason 
in  angels  of  heaven  and  in  men  on  earth  good  is 
good  in  itself  only  so  far  as  it  has  become  one  with 
truth  ;  and  truth  is  truth  in  itself  only  so  far  as  it  has 
become  one  with  good.      It  is  acknowledged  that 
every  good  and  every  truth  is  from  the  Lord  ;  since, 
therefore,   good  makes  one  with  truth,    and  truth 
with  good,  it  follows  that  for  good  to  be  good  in 
itself,  and  for  truth  to  be  truth  in  itself,  they  must 
make  one  in  the  recipient,  that  is,  in  an  angel  of 
heaven  or  a  man  on  the  earth. 

11.  It  is  acknowledged  that  all  things  in  the 


CHAPTER  I.,  N.   II  15 

universe  have  relation  to  good  and  truth,  for  by 
good  is  meant  that  which  universally  embraces  and 
involves  all  things  of  love,  and  by  truth  that  which 
universally  embraces  and  involves  all  things  of  wis- 
dom. But  it  is  not  yet  acknowledged  that  good  is 
not  any  thing  until  it  has  become  one  with  truth,  and 
that  truth  is  not  any  thing  until  it  has  become  one 
with  good.  There  is  an  appearance  that  good  is 
something  apart  from  truth,  and  that  truth  is  some- 
thing apart  from  good,  and  yet  they  are  not ;  since 
love  (all  things  of  which  are  called  goods)  is  the  be- 
ing (esse)  of  a  thing,  and  wisdom  (all  things  of  which 
are  called  truths)  is  the  coming  forth  (existere)  of  a 
thing  from  that  esse,  as  has  been  shown  in  the  work 
on  The  Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom  (n. 
14-16);  and  since  esse  is  nothing  apart  from  exist- 
ere, and  existere  is  nothing  apart  from  esse,  so  good 
is  nothing  apart  from  truth,  and  truth  is  nothing 
apart  from  good.  So  again,  what  is  good  apart 
from  any  thing  ?  Can  it  be  called  good,  since  no 
affection  or  perception  can  be  predicated  of  it  ? 

The  thing  in  connection  with  good  that  affects 
and  causes  itself  to  be  perceived  and  felt  .has  rela- 
tion to  truth,  since  it  has  relation  to  what  is  in  the 
understanding.  Say  to  any  one,  not  that  this  or 
that  is  good,  but  simply  ' '  the  good, "  is  "  the  good ' ' 
anything?  Good  is  something  because  of  this  or 
that  which  is  perceived  as  one  with  good.  This  is 
united  with  good  nowhere  but  in  the  understand- 
ing ;  and  every  thing  of  the  understanding  has  rela- 
tion to  truth.  It  is  the  same  with  willing.  To  will, 


16  THE  WINE  'PROVIDENCE 

apart  from  knowing,  perceiving,  and  thinking  what 
one  wills,  is  not  anything  ;  but  together  with  these 
it  becomes  something.  All  willing  is  of  love,  and 
has  relation  to  good  ;  and  all  knowing,  perceiving, 
or  thinking  is  of  the  understanding,  and  has  relation 
to  truth.  From  this  it  is  clear  that  to  will  is  nothing, 
but  to  will  this  or  that  is  something. 

It  is  the  same  with  every  use,  because  a  use  is  a 
good.  Unless  a  use  is  determined  to  something  with 
which  it  may  be  a  one  it  is  not  a  use,  and  thus  it  is 
not  any  thing.  It  is  from  the  understanding  that 
use  derives  its  something  to  which  it  may  be  de- 
termined ;  and  that  from  the  understanding  which 
is  conjoined  or  adjoined  to  the  use  has  relation  to 
truth  ;  and  it  is  from  that  that  the  use  derives  its 
quality. 

From  these  few  things  it  is  clear  that  good  apart 
from  truth  is  not  any  thing  ;  and  that  truth  apart 
from  good  is  not  any  thing.  When  it  is  said  that 
good  with  truth  and  truth  with  good  are  something, 
it  follows  from  this  that  evil  with  falsity  and  falsity 
with  evil  are  not  any  thing  ;  for  the  latter  are  op- 
posite to  the  former,  and  opposition  destroys,  and 
in  this  case  destroys  that  something.  But  more 
about  this  in  what  follows. 

12*  There  may  be  a  marriage,  however,  of  good 
and  truth  in  the  cause,  and  there  may  be  a  mar- 
riage of  good  and  truth  from  the  cause  in  the  effecl. 
A  marriage  of  good  and  truth  in  the  cause  is  a 
marriage  of  will  and  understanding,  that  is,  of  love 
and  wisdom.  There  is  such  a  marriage  in  every 


CHAPTER  /.,  N.   13  17 

thing  that  a  man  wills  and  thinks,  and  in  all  his  con- 
clusions and  intentions  therefrom.  This  marriage 
enters  into  and  produces  the  effect.  But  in  pro- 
ducing the  effecl:  the  good  and  the  truth  appear 
distinct,  because  the  simultaneous  then  produces 
what  is  successive. 

For  instance,  when  a  man  is  willing  and  think- 
ing about  his  food  and  clothing  and  dwelling  place, 
about  his  business  or  employment,  or  his  relations 
with  others,  at  first  he  wills  and  thinks,  or  forms  his 
conclusions  and  purposes,  about  these  at  the  same 
time  ;  but  when  these  have  been  determined  into 
effects,  one  follows  the  other  ;  nevertheless,  in  will 
and  thought  they  continue  to  make  one.  In  these 
effects  uses  pertain  to  love  or  to  good,  while  means 
to  the  uses  pertain  to  the  understanding  or  to  truth. 
Any  one  can  confirm  these  general  truths  by  par- 
ticulars, provided  he  clearly  perceives  what  has  re- 
lation to  good  of  love  and  what  has  relation  to  truth 
of  wisdom,  and  also  how  these  are  related  in  the 
cause  and  how  in  the  effecl:. 

13.  It  has  often  been  said  that  love  makes  the 
life  of  man  ;  but  this  does  not  mean  love  separate 
from  wisdom  or  good  separate  from  truth  in  the 
cause,  since  love  separate,  or  good  separate,  is  not 
anything  ;  therefore  the  love  that  makes  man's  in- 
most life,  the  life  that  is  from  the  Lord,  is  love  and 
wisdom  together  ;  and  the  love  that  makes  the  life 
of  man  as  being  a  recipient  is  also  love,  not  sep- 
arate in  the  cause,  but  only  in  the  effecl.  For  love 
can  be  understood  only  from  its  quality,  and  its 


18  THE  ViriNE   'PROVIDENCE 


quality  is  wisdom  ;  and  its  quality  or  wisdom  can 
exist  only  from  its  being  (<?«<?),  which  is  love,  and  it 
is  from  this  that  they  are  one.  It  is  the  same  with 
good  and  truth.  And  since  truth  is  from  good,  as 
wisdom  is  from  love,  the  two  taken  together  are 
called  love  or  good  ;  for  love  in  its  form  is  wisdom, 
and  good  in  its  form  is  truth,  and  form  is  the  source 
and  the  only  source  of  quality.  From  all  this  it  is 
now  evident  that  good  is  not  in  the  least  good  ex- 
cept so  far  as  it  has  become  one  with  its  truth,  and 
that  truth  is  not  in  the  least  truth  except  so  far  as 
it  has  become  one  with  its  good. 

14.  (vi.  )  Good  of  love  that  has  not  become  one 
with  truth  of  wisdom  is  not  good  in  itself,  but  is 
apparent  good  ;  and  truth  of  wisdom  that  has  not 
become  one  with  good  of  love  is  not  truth  in  itself, 
but  is  apparent  truth.  —  The  truth  is  that  no  good 
that  is  good  in  itself  can  exist  unless  it  has  become 
one  with  its  truth  ;  nor  can  truth  that  is  truth  in 
itself  exist  unless  it  has  become  one  with  its  good. 
Nevertheless,  there  is  good  separated  from  truth,  and 
truth  separated  from  good.  This  is  found  in  hypo- 
crites and  flatterers,  in  evil  persons  of  every  kind, 
and  in  such  as  are  in  natural  good  and  in  no  spiritual 
good.  All  these  are  able  to  do  what  is  good  to  the 
church,  to  the  country,  to  society,  to  fellow-citizens, 
to  the  needy,  the  poor,  the  widow,  and  the  orphan  ; 
they  can  also  understand  truths,  and  from  their  un- 
derstanding can  think  about  them,  and  from  their 
thoughts  can  talk  about  them  and  teach  them  ; 


CHAPTER  I.,  N.  /5  19 

nevertheless  these  goods  and  truths  in  them  are  not 
interiorly,  that  is,  not  in  themselves,  goods  and 
truths,  but  they  are  outwardly  and  thus  only  appa- 
rently goods  and  truths,  for  they  look  only  to  self 
arid  the  world,  and  not  to  good  itself  and  truth  it- 
self, consequently  they  are  not  from  good  and  truth, 
but  are  of  the  mouth  and  the  body  only,  and  not  of 
the  heart. 

Such  goods  and  truths  may  be  likened  to  gold 
and  silver  spread  over  dross  or  rotten  wood  or  dung  ; 
and  such  truths  when  uttered  may  be  likened  to  a 
breath  that  passes  away,  or  to  a  delusive  light  that 
vanishes,  though  outwardly  they  appear  like  genu- 
ine truths.  These  truths  so  appear  in  those  that  ut- 
ter them,  while  to  those  who  hear  and  accept  them, 
not  knowing  what  they  are,  they  may  seem  to  be 
quite  different.  For  every  one  is  affected  by  what 
is  external  according  to  his  own  internal  ;  and  a 
truth,  by  whatever  mouth  it  is  uttered,  enters  into 
another's  hearing  and  is  taken  up  by  the  mind  ac- 
cording to  the  state  and  quality  of  the  mind.  Nearly 
the  same  is  true  of  those  that  are  in  natural  good  by 
inheritance,  and  in  no  spiritual  good.  For  the  in- 
ternal of  every  good  and  of  every  truth  is  spiritual, 
and  the  spiritual  dispels  falsities  and  evils,  while  the 
natural  by  itself  favors  them  ;  and  favoring  evils  and 
falsities  is  not  in  accord  with  doing  good. 

15.  Good  can  be  separated  from  truth,  and 
truth  from  good,  and  when  separated  appear  to  be 
good  and  truth,  for  the  reason  that  man  has  the 
ability  to  acl:  that  is  called  liberty,  and  the  ability  to 


20  THE   'DIVINE 

understand  that  is  called  rationality.  It  is  by  the 
abuse  of  these  powers  that  man  can  seem  in  exter- 
nals to  be  different  from  what  he  is  in  internals  ; 
and  in  consequence,  that  a  bad  man  can  do  what  is 
good  and  speak  what  is  true,  or  a  devil  feign  him- 
self an  angel  of  light.  But  on  this  see  what  has 
been  said  in  the  work  on  The  Divine  Love  and  the 
Divine  Wisdom,  as  follows  :  The  origin  of  evil  is 
from  the  abuse  of  the  capacities  peculiar  to  man 
that  are  called  rationality  and  liberty  (n.  264—270). 
These  two  capacities  are  in  the  evil  as  well  as  in  the 
good  (n.  425).  Love  without  a  marriage  with  wis- 
dom, or  good  without  a  marriage  with  truth,  is  un- 
able to  effecl:  any  thing  (n.  401 ).  Love  does  nothing 
except  in  conjunction  with  wisdom  or  the  under- 
standing (n.  409).  Love  makes  wisdom  or  the 
understanding  to  be  reciprocally  conjoined  to  it  (n. 
410—412).  Wisdom  or  the  understanding,  from  the 
potency  given  it  by  love,  can  be  raised  up,  and  can 
perceive  and  receive  such  things  as  belong  to  light 
out  of  heaven  (n.  413).  Love  can  in  like  manner 
be  raised  up,  and  can  receive  such  things  as  belong 
to  heat  out  of  heaven,  provided  it  loves  wisdom, 
its  marriage  partner,  in  that  degree  (n.  414,  415). 
Otherwise  love  draws  down  wisdom  or  the  under- 
standing from  its  elevation,  that  it  may  a6l  as  one 
with  itself  (n.  416-418).  Loye  is  purified  in  the  un- 
derstanding when  they  are  raised  up  together  (n. 
419-421).  When  love  has  been  purified  by  wis- 
dom in  the  understanding  it  becomes  spiritual  and 
celestial  ;  but  when  love  has  been  defiled  in  the  un- 


CHAPTER   I.,  N.   1 6  21 

derstanding  it  becomes  sensual  and  corporeal  (n. 
422—424).  It  is  the  same  with  charity  and  faith  and 
their  conjunction  as  with  love  and  wisdom  and  their 
conjunction  (n.  427-430).  What  charity  is  in  the 
heavens  (n.  431). 

16.  (vii. )  The  Lord  does  not  suffer  any  thing 
to  be  divided ;  consequently  it  must  be  both  in  good 
and  in  truth,  or  it  must  be  both  in  evil  and  in  fals- 
ity.— The  Lord's  Divine  providence  chiefly  has  for 
its  end  that  man  should  be  both  in  good  and  in 
truth,  and  for  this  it  works  ;  for  thereby  man  is  his 
own  good  and  his  own  love,  and  also  his  own  truth 
and  his  own  wisdom  ;  for  thereby  man  is  man,  since 
he  is  then  an  image  of  the  Lord.  But  inasmuch  as 
man  can  be,  while  he  is  living  in  the  world,  in  good 
and  in  falsity  at  the  same  time,  also  in  evil  and  in 
truth  at  the  same  time,  and  even  in  evil  and  in  good 
at  the  same  time,  and  thus  be  as  it  were  a  double 
man,  and  inasmuch  as  this  division  destroys  that 
image,  and  thereby  destroys  the  man,  the  Lord's 
Divine  providence,  in  each  and  every  particular  of 
it,  has  as  its  end  that  this  division  shall  not  be. 
And  since  it  is  better  for  a  man  to  be  in  evil  and 
in  falsity  at  the  same  time  than  to  be  in  good  and 
in  evil  at  the  same  time,  the  Lord  permits  this,  not 
as  what  He  wills,  but  as  if,  in  view  of  the  end,  which 
is  salvation,  He  were  unable  to  prevent  it. 

That  it  is  possible  for  a  man  to  be  in  evil  and  in 
truth  at  the  same  time,  and  that  the  Lord  is  unable 
to  prevent  this  in  view  of  the  end,  which  is  salva- 


22 


THE   DIVINE   'PROVIDENCE 


tien,  comes  from  man's  ability  to  have  his  under- 
standing raised  up  into  the  light  of  wisdom,  and  to 
see  truths  or  apprehend  them  when  he  hears  them, 
while  his  love  remains  below.  For  man  is  thus  able 
to  be  in  heaven  with  the  understanding,  while  with 
the  love  he  is  in  hell  ;  and  this  cannot  be  denied  to 
man,  because  the  two  capacities,  rationality  and  lib- 
erty, cannot  be  taken  from  him  ;  for  these  are  what 
make  him  to  be  a  man,  and  differentiate  him  from 
the  beasts,  and  only  by  means  of  these  can  he  be 
regenerated  and  saved.  For  by  means  of  these  a 
man  is  able  to  acl:  according  to  wisdom,  and  is  also 
able  to  acl;  according  to  a  love  that  is  not  of  wis- 
dom ;  by  means  of  these  he  is  able  also  from  wisdom 
above  to  view  the  love  below,  and  thus  to  view  his 
thoughts,  intentions,  affections,  and  in  consequence 
the  evils  and  falsities  and  the  goods  and  truths  of 
his  life  and  doclrine  ;  and  without  a  knowledge  and 
recognition  of  these  in  himself  he  cannot  be  re- 
formed. These  two  capacities  have  been  treated 
of  above,  and  more  will  be  said  about  them  in  what 
follows.  This  is  why  man  can  be  both  in  good 
and  in  truth,  and  both  in  evil  and  in  falsity,  and 
in  alternations  of  these. 

X7.  In  this  world  a  man  can  hardly  enter  into 
either  conjunction  or  union,  that  is,  of  good  and 
truth,  or  of  evil  and  falsity  ;  for  so  long  as  he  is 
living  in  the  world  he  is  held  in  a  state  of  reform- 
ation or  of  regeneration  ;  but  after  death  every  man 
comes  into  one  or  the  other,  because  then  he  can 
no  longer  be  reformed  and  regenerated  ;  he  then 


CHAPTER  L,  N.  18  23 

remains  such  as  his  life,  that  is,  such  as  his  ruling 
love,  has  been  in  this  world.  If,  therefore,  his  life 
has  been  a  life  of  the  love  of  evil,  every  truth  that  he 
has  acquired  in  the  world  from  a  teacher,  from 
preaching,  or  from  the  Word  is  taken  away,  and 
when  truth  has  been  taken  away  he  imbibes  such 
falsity  as  agrees  with  his  evil,  as  a  sponge  imbibes 
water.  On  the  other  hand,  if  his  life  has  been  a  life 
of  the  love  of  good,  all  the  falsity  that  he  has  gath- 
ered in  the  world  from  hearing  and  from  reading, 
but  has  not  confirmed  in  himself,  is  removed  ;  and 
in  its  place  truth  agreeing  with  his  good  is  given 
him.  This  is  meant  by  these  words  of  the  Lord  : 

"Take  the  talent  from  him,  and  give  it  to  him  that  hath 
the  ten  talents  ;  for  unto  every  one  that  hath  shall 
be  given,  that  he  may  have  abundance  ;  but  from  him 
that  hath  not  shall  be  taken  away  even  that  which  he 
hath"  (Matt.  xxv.  28,  29;  xiii.  12;  Mark  iv.  25;  Luke 
viii.  18 ;  xix.  24-26). 

18.  After  death  every  one  must  be  both  in  good 
and  in  truth,  or  must  be  both  in  evil  and  in  falsity, 
for  the  reason  that  good  cannot  be  conjoined  with 
evil,  nor  can  good  be  conjoined  with  the  falsity  of 
evil,  nor  evil  with  the  truth  of  good  ;  for  these  are 
opposites,  and  opposites  fight  each  other  until  one 
destroys  the  other.  Those  who  are  both  in  evil 
and  in  good  are  meant  by  these  words  of  the  Lord 
to  the  church  of  the  Laodiceans  in  the  Apocalypse  : 

"  I  know  thy  works,  that  thou-art  neither  cold  nor  hot; 
would  that  thou  wert  cold  or  hot.  So  because  thou 
art  lukewarm,  and  neither  cold  nor  hot,  I  will  spew 
thee  out  of  My  mouth  '*'  (iii.  15,  16)  ; 


24  THE   T»/K/N£   YROWDENCE 

and  also  by  these  words  of  the  Lord  : 

"  No  man  can  serve  two  masters  ;  for  he  will  either  hate 
the  one  and  love  the  other,  or  he  will  cling  to  the  one 
and  neglect  the  other"  (Matt.  vi.  24). 


(viii.  )  That  which  is  both  in  good  and  in 
truth  is  something  ;  but  that  which  is  both  in  evil 
and  falsity  is  not  any  thing.  —  It  may  be  seen  above 
(n.  n),  that  what  is  both  in  good  and  in  truth  is 
something  ;  and  from  this  it  follows  that  what  is  both 
in  evil  and  in  falsity  is  not  any  thing.  Not  being 
any  thing  means  to  have  no  power  and  no  spiritual 
life.  Those  who  are  both  in  evil  and  in  falsity,  and 
all  such  are  in  hell,  have  indeed  power  with  one 
another  ;  for  an  evil  person  is  able  to  do  evil,  and 
does  it  in  a  thousand  ways.  And  yet  he  is  unable 
to  do  any  evil  to  the  evil  except  from  [their]  evil, 
and  can  not  do  the  least  evil  to  the  good  ;  and  if, 
as  is  sometimes  the  case,  he  does  evil  to  those  who 
are  good  it  is  by  a  conjunction  with  their  evil. 

This  is  the  source  of  temptations,  which  are  in- 
festations by  the  evil  that  are  with  men,  and  conse- 
quent combats  by  means  of  which  the  good  can  be 
freed  from  their  evils.  As  the  evil  have  no  power, 
so  before  the  Lord  the  entire  hell  is  not  only  as 
nothing,  but  in  respect  to  power  is  absolutely  no- 
thing, as  I  have  seen  proved  by  abundant  experi- 
ence. And  yet,  what  is  wonderful,  the  wicked  all 
believe  themselves  to  -be  powerful,  while  the  good 
all  believe  themselves  to  be  destitute  of  power.  The 
reason  is  that  the  evil  attribute  all  things  to  their 


CHAPTER   I.,  N.  21  25 

own  power,  and  thus  to  shrewdness  and  cunning, 
and  attribute  nothing  to  the  Lord  ;  while  the  good 
attribute  nothing  to  their  own  prudence,  but  all 
things  to  the  Lord  who  is  Almighty.  Evil  and  fals- 
ity together  are  not  any  thing,  for  the  reason  also 
that  there  is  no  spiritual  life  in  them  ;  and  this  is  why 
the  life  of  the  infernals  is  not  called  life,  but  death  ; 
since,  therefore,  all  that  is  any  thing  must  be  as- 
cribed to  life,  nothing  [that  is  real]  can  be  ascribed 
to  death. 

20.  Those  who  are  both  in  evil  and  in  truth 
may  be  likened  to  eagles  that  soar  aloft,  but  drop 
when  deprived  of  the  use  of  their  wings  ;  for  thus 
the  men  do  after  death,   when  they  have  become 
spirits,   who  have  understood    truths,   have  talked 
about  them,  and  have  taught  them,  and  yet  have 
not  looked  to  God  at  all  in  their  life.    Such  by  means 
of  the  things    in    their  understanding  raise    them- 
selves on  high,   and  sometimes  enter  the  heavens 
and  feign  themselves  angels  of  light  ;  but  when  de- 
prived of  truths  and  cast  out  they  fall  down  to  hell. 
Moreover,   eagles    signify  rapacious    men  who  are 
endowed  with  intellectual  sight ;  and  wings  signify 
spiritual  truths.    As  just  said,  these  are  such  as  have 
not  looked  to  God  in  their  life.       To  look  to  God  in 
the  life  means  nothing  else   than  thinking  this  or 
that  evil  to  be  a  sin  against  Him,  and  for  that  reason 
not  doing  it. 

21.  (ix. )   The  Lord's  Divine  providence -causes 
the  evil  and  the  falsity  that  are  together  to  be  serv- 


26  THE  WINE  'PROVIDENCE 

iceable  in  the  way  of  equilibrium,  of  relation,  and 
of  purification,  and  thus  in  the  conjunction  of  good 
and  truth  in  others. — From  what  has  been  said  it 
can  be  seen  that  the  Lord' s  Divine  providence  con- 
tinually labors  to  unite  truth  with  good  and  good 
with  truth  in  man,  because  such  union  is  the  church 
and  is  heaven  ;  and  there  is  such  a  union  in  the 
Lord  and  in  all  things  that  go  forth  from  the  Lord. 
From  that  union  heaven  is  called  a  marriage,  and 
the  church  is  called  a  marriage,  and  in  consequence 
the  kingdom  of  God  is  likened  in  the  Word  to  a 
marriage.  From  that  union  the  Sabbath  in  the  Is- 
raelitish  church  was  the  most  holy  thing  of  worship, 
for  it  signified  that  union.  For  the  same  reasoft  in 
each  and  in  all  things  of  the  Word  there  is  a  mar- 
riage of  good  and  truth  (respecting  which  see  the 
Doctrine  of  the  New  Jerusalem  concerning  the  Sa- 
cred Scripture,  n.  80-90).  The  marriage  of  good 
and  truth  is  from  the  marriage  of  the  Lord  with 
the  church  ;  and  this  is  from  the  marriage  of  love 
and  wisdom  in  the  Lord  ;  for  good  pertains  to  love, 
and  truth  to  wisdom.  From  all  this  it  can  be  seen 
that  the  unceasing  objecT:  of  the  Divine  providence 
is  to  unite  good  to  truth  and  truth  to  good  in  man, 
for  thus  man  is  united  to  the  Lord. 

22.  But  inasmuch  as  many  have  sundered  or 
are  sundering  this  marriage,  especially  by  the  sep- 
aration of  faith  from  charity,  since  faith  is  of  truth 
and  truth  is  of  faith,  and  charity  is  of  good  an'd 
good  is  of  charity,  and  inasmuch  as  they  thereby 
conjoin  evil  and  falsity  in  themselves,  and  have  thus 


CHAPTER   I.,  N.  24  27 

become  or  are  becoming  opposite  [to  good  and 
truth],  the  Lord  provides  that  such  shall  still  be 
of  service  for  the  conjunction  of  good  and  truth  in 
others,  as  means  of  equilibrium,  relation  and  purifi- 
cation. 

23.  The  conjunction  of  good  and  truth  in  others 
is  provided  by  the  Lord,  by  means  of  the  equili- 
brium between  heaven  and  hell ;  for  there  is  a  con- 
stant exhalation  from  hell  of  evil  and  falsity  together, 
while  from  heaven  there  is  a  constant  exhalation  of 
good  and  truth  together.  In  this  equilibrium  every 
man  is  held  as  long  as  he  lives  in  the  world  ;  and  by 
means  of  it  he  is  held  in  freedom  to  think,  to  will, 
to  speak,  and  to  do,  and  in  this  it  is  possible  for 
him  to  be  reformed.  (Respecting  this  spiritual  equi- 
librium, from  which  man  has  freedom,  see  the  work 
on  Heaven  and  Hell,  n.  589-596,  and  n.  597-603.) 

24*  The  conjunction  of  good  and  truth  is  pro- 
vided by  the  Lord  by  means  of  relation;  since  the 
quality  of  a  good  is  known  only  by  its  relation  to 
what  is  less  good,  and  by  its  contrariety  to  evil. 
From  this  comes  all  power  to  perceive  and  to  feel, 
since  from  this  comes  the  quality  of  these  powers ; 
for  thereby  every  thing  pleasing  is  perceived  and  felt 
from  the  less  pleasing  and  by  means  of  the  unpleas- 
ant, every  thing  bea'utiful  from  the  less  beautiful  and 
by  means  of  the  unbeautiful ;  and  likewise  every 
good,  which  is  of  love,  from  the  less  good  and  by 
means  of  evil ;  and  every  truth,  which  is  of  wisdom, 
from  the  less  true  and  by  means  of  falsity.  In  every 
matter,  from  the  greatest  to  the  least  of  it,  there 


28  THE  'DIVINE  PROVIDENCE 

must  be  variety  ;  and  when  there  is  variety  also  in  its 
opposite  from  its  least  to  its  greatest,  and  there  is 
equilibrium  between  them,  then  there  is  relation  ac- 
cording to  degrees  on  both  sides ;  and  the  percep- 
tion and  sensation  of  the  thing  either  increase  or 
diminish.  But  an  opposite,  as  we  know,  may  take 
away  perceptions  and  sensations  or  may  exalt  them  ; 
when  it  mingles  itself  it  takes  away ;  but  when  it 
does  not  mingle  itself  it  exalts  ;  and  for  this  reason 
the  Lord  most  carefully  separates  good  and  evil  in 
man,  that  they  may  not  be  mingled,  just  as  He  sep- 
arates heaven  and  hell. 

25.  In  others  the  conjunction  of  good  and 
truth  is  provided  by  the  Lord  by  means  of  purifi- 
cation, which  is  effected  in  two  ways,  one  by  tempt- 
ations, and  the  other  by  fermentations.  Spiritual 
temptations  are  nothing  else  than  combats  against 
the  evils  and  falsities  that  are  exhaled  from  hell  and 
affect  man.  By  these  combats  man  is  purified  from 
evils  and  falsities,  and  good  is  conjoined  to  truth  in 
him,  and  truth  to  good.  Spiritual  fermentations 
are  effected  in  many  ways,  both  in  the  heavens  and 
on  the  earth  ;  but  in  the  world  it  is  not  known  what 
they  are  or  how  they  are  effected.  For  there  are 
evils  and  falsities  together  that  clo  a  work,  when  in- 
troduced into  societies,  like  that  of  leaven  put  into 
meal,  or  ferments  into  new  wine,  by  which  hetero- 
geneous things  are  separated  and  homogeneous 
things  are  united,  and  purity  and  clearness  are  the 
result.  These  are  meant  by  these  words  of  the 
Lord : 


CHAPTER  f.,  N.  26  29 

"  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  leaven,  which  a 
woman  took  and  hid  in  three  measures  of  meal,  till 
it  was  all  leavened"  (Matt.  xiii.  33  ;  Luke  xiii.  21). 

26.  From  the  conjunction  of  evil  and  falsity  in 
those  who  are  in  hell  the  Lord  provides  these  uses  ; 
for  the  Lord's  dominion,  which  is  not  only  over 
heaven  but  also  over  hell,  is  a  dominion  of  uses ; 
and  the  Lord  provides  that  there  shall  be  there  no 
person  by  whom,  or  no  thing  by  means  of  which, 
some  use  is  not  accomplished. 


THE    LORD'S    DIVINE    PROVIDENCE    HAS    AS     ITS   END   A 
HEAVEN    FROM  THE  HUMAN  RACE. 


BY  long-continued  intercourse  with  angels  and 
spirits  it  has  been  made  known  and  proved  to 
me  that  heaven  is  not  made  up  of  angels  cre- 
ated such  from  the  beginning,  and  that  hell  did  not 
originate  in  any  devil  created  an  angel  of  light  and 
cast  down  from  heaven,  but  that  both  heaven  and 
hell  are  from  the  human  race,  —  heaven  from  those 
who  are  in  the  love  of  good  and  consequent  under- 
standing of  truth,  and  hell  from  those  who  are  in  the 
love  of  evil  and  consequent  understanding  of  falsity. 
(On  this  subject  see  what  has  been  shown  in  the 
work  on  Heaven  and  Hell,  n.  311-316  ;  also  in  the 
little  work  on  the  Last  Judgment,  n,  14-27;  and 
Continuation  concerning  the  Last  Judgment  and 
the  Spiritual  World,  from  beginning  to  end.) 

Now  since  heaven  is  from  the  human  race,  and 
heaven  is  an  abiding  with  the  Lord  to  eternity,  it 
follows  that  this  was  the  Lord's  end  in  creation  ; 
and  since  heaven  was  the  end  in  creation  this  is  the 
end  of  His  Divine  providence.  The  Lord  did  not 
create  the  universe  for  His  own  sake,  but  for  the 
sake  of  those  with  whom  He  is  to  be  in  heaven  ; 
since  spiritual  love  is  such  that  it  wishes  to  give  its 


CHAPTER   II.,  N.  27  31 

own  to  another ;  and  so  far  as  it  can  do  this  it  is 
in  its  being  («j*),  in  its  peace,  and  in  its  blessed- 
ness. Spiritual  love  derives  this  from  the  Lord's 
Divine  love,  which  is  such  infinitely.  From  this  it 
follows  that  the  Divine  love  and  therefore  the  Di- 
vine providence  has  as  its  end  a  heaven  consisting 
of  men  who  have  become  or  are  becoming  angeis, 
upon  whom  the  Lord  is  able  to  bestow  all  the  bless- 
ings and  felicities  that  belong  to  love  and  wisdom, 
and  to  communicate  these  from  Himself  in  them. 
Nor  can  He  do  this  in  any  other  way  ;  for  there  is 
in  them  from  creation  an  image  and  likeness  of  Him- 
self; the  image  in  them  is  wisdom,  and  the  likeness 
in  them  is  love  ;  and  the  Lord  in  them  is  love  united 
to  wisdom  and  wisdom  united  to  love ;  or,  what  is 
the  same,  is  good  united  to  truth,  and  truth  united 
to  good.  (This  union  was  treated  of  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapter.) 

But  since  it  is  not  known  what  heaven  is  in  gen- 
eral or  in  many,  and  what  it  is  in  particular  or  in  the 
individual,  what  it  is  in  the  spiritual  world  and  what 
it  is  in  the  natural  world,  and  yet  this  knowledge  is 
most  important,  because  heaven  is  the  end  of  the 
Divine  providence,  I  will  try  to  present  the  subject 
with  some  clearness,  in  the  following  order : 

(i.)   Heaven  is  conjunction  with  the  Lord. 
(ii.)   From  creation  man  has  an  ability  to  be 
more  and  more  nearly  conjoined  with 
the  Lord. 

(iii.)    The  more  nearly  a  man  is  conjoined  with 
the  Lord  the  wiser  he  becomes. 


32  THE  H^iyiNE  T/?OF/D£NCE 


(iv.)    The  more  nearly  a  man  z's  conjoined  with 

the  Lord  the  happier  he  becomes. 
(v.)  The  more  nearly  a  man  is  conjoined  with 
the  Lord  the  more  distinctly  does  he 
appear  to  himself  to  be  his  own,  and 
the  more  clearly  does  he  recognize 
that  he  is  the  Lord's. 


28.  (i.)  Heaven  is  conjunElion  with  the  Lord. 
— It  is  not  from  the  angels  but  from  the  Lord  that 
heaven  is  heaven,  for  the  love  and  wisdom  in  which 
angels  are,  and  which  make  heaven,  are  not  from 
the  angels  but  from  the  Lord,  and  in  fa6t,  are  the 
Lord  in  them.  And  since  love  and  wisdom  are 
the  Lord's  and  are  the  Lord  in  heaven,  and  love 
and  wisdom  constitute  the  life  of  angels,  it  is  clear 
that  their  life  is  the  Lord's  life,  and  in  facl,  is  the 
Lord.  The  angels  themselves  confess  that  they  live 
from  the  Lord.  All  this  makes  clear  that  heaven 
is  conjunction  with  the  Lord.  But  since  conjunc- 
tion with  the  Lord  is  various,  and  consequently 
heaven  is  not  the  same  thing  to  one  as  to  another, 
it  follows  further  that  heaven  is  according  to  the 
conjunction  with  the  Lord.  In  the  following  chapter 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  conjunction  is  more  and 
more  near,  or  more  and  more  remote. 

Here  something  shall  be  said  about  that  con- 
junction, how  it  is  effected,  and  what  it  is.  It  is  a 
conjunction  of  the  Lord  with  angels  and  of  angels 
with  the  Lord,  and  is  therefore  reciprocal.  The 
Lord  flows  into  the  life's  love  of  the  angels,  and  the 
angels  receive  the  Lord  in  wisdom,  and  thereby  in 


CHAPTER  II.,  N.  28  33 

turn  conjoin  themselves  with  the  Lord.  But  it  must 
be  clearly  understood  that  while  to  the  angels  the 
appearance  is  that  they  conjoin  themselves  with  the 
Lord  by  means  of  wisdom,  in  fact  it  is  the  Lord 
who  conjoins  them  with  Himself  by  means  of  wis- 
dom ;  for  their  wisdom  is  from  the  Lord.  It  is  the 
same  if  it  is  said  that  the  Lord  conjoins  Himself 
with  angels  by  means  of  good,  and  the  angels  in 
turn  conjoin  themselves  with  the  Lord  by  means  of 
truth,  for  all  good  pertains  to  love,  and  all  truth  to 
wisdom. 

But  as  this  reciprocal  conjunction  is  an  arcanum 
that  few  can  understand  without  explanation,  I  will 
try  to  unfold  it,  as  far  as  possible,  by  means  of  such 
things  as  are  adapted  to  the  comprehension.  In  the 
treatise  on  The  Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wis- 
dom (n.  404,  405),  it  has  been  shown  how  love  con- 
joins itself  with  wisdom,  namely,  through  an  affec- 
tion for  knowing,  from  which  comes  an  affection 
for  truth,  and  through  an  affection  for  understand- 
ing, from  which  comes  a  perception  of  truth,  and 
through  an  affection  for  seeing  what  is  known  and 
understood,  from  which  comes  thought.  Into  all 
these  affections  the  Lord  flows,  for  they  are  deriv- 
ations from  the  life's  love  of  every  one  ;  and  this 
influx  is  received  by  the  angels  in  the  perception  of 
truth  and  in  thought,  for  in  these  the  influx  becomes 
apparent  to  them,  but  not  in  the  affections. 

Since,  then,  perceptions  and  thoughts  appear  to 
the  angels  as  if  they  were  theirs,  although  they  are 
from  affections  that  are  from  the  Lord,  there  is  this 


34  THE  TUVINE  VROCIDENCE 

appearance  that  the  angels  conjoin  themselves  re- 
ciprocally with  the  Lord,  although  it  is  the  Lord  who 
conjoins  them  with  Himself;  for  perceptions  and 
thoughts  are  produces  of  the  affection,  and  the  affec- 
tion, which  pertains  to  the  love,  is  their  soul.  For 
no  one  can  perceive  or  think  anything  apart  from 
affection,  and  every  one  perceives  and  thinks  ac- 
cording to  affection.  All  this  makes  clear  that  the 
reciprocal  conjunction  of  angels  with  the  Lord  is 
not  from  the  angels,  but  is  as  if  it  were  from  them. 
Such  also  is  the  conjunction  of  the  Lord  with  the 
church,  and  of  the  church  with  the  Lord,  which  is 
called  the  celestial  and  spiritual  marriage. 

29.  All  conjunction  in  the  spiritual  world  is 
effected  by  means  of  looking.  When  any  one  there 
is  thinking  about  another  from  a  desire  to  speak 
with  him,  the  other  immediately  becomes  present, 
and  they  see  each  other  face  to  face.  It  is  the  same 
when  any  one  is  thinking  about  another  from  an 
affection  of  love ;  but  this  affection  produces  con- 
junction, while  the  other  produces  presence  only. 
This  is  peculiar  to  the  spiritual  world,  for  the  rea- 
son that  all  there  are  spiritual  beings ;  in  the  nat- 
ural world,  in  which  all  are  material  beings,  it  is 
otherwise.  With  men  in  the  natural  world  the  same 
takes  place  in  the  affections  and  thoughts  of  their 
spirit ;  but  inasmuch  as  there  are  spaces  in  the  nat- 
ural world,  while  in  the  spiritual  world  the  spaces 
are  merely  appearances,  that  which  takes  place  in 
the  thought  of  every  one's  spirit,  in  the  spiritual 
world  takes  place  actually. 


CHAPTER  II.,  N.  ^O  35 

This  has  been  said  to  make  known  how  the  con- 
junction of  the  Lord  with  angels  is  effected,  and 
how  the  apparent  reciprocal  conjunction  of  angels 
with  the  Lord  is  effected.  For  all  angels  turn  their 
faces  to  the  Lord,  and  the  Lord's  look  is  upon  the 
forehead,  because  the  forehead  corresponds  to  love 
and  its  affections,  while  angels  behold  the  Lord  with 
the  eyes,  because  the  eyes  correspond  to  wisdom 
and  its  perceptions.  Nevertheless  angels  do  not 
from  themselves  turn  their  faces  to  the  Lord,  but 
the  Lord  turns  them  to  Himself;  and  He  turns 
them  by  influx  into  their  life!»  love,  and  through 
that  love  enters  into  the  perceptions  and  thoughts ; 
and  thus  He  turns  them  about. 

Such  a  circle  of  love  to  thoughts  and  from 
thoughts  to  love  from  love,  is  in  all  things  of  the 
human  mind.  This  circle  may  be  called  the  circle 
of  life.  About  this  something  may  be  seen  in  the 
work  on  The  Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wis- 
dom, as  the  following :  Angels  constantly  turn  their 
faces  to  the  Lord  as  a  sun  (n.  129-134).  All  the 
interior  things  of  the  angels,  both  of  mind  and  of 
body,  are  likewise  turned  to  the  Lord  as  a  sun  (n. 
135-139).  Every  spirit,  of  whatever  quality,  turns 
himself  likewise  to  his  ruling  love  (n.  140-145). 
Love  conjoins  itself  to  wisdom,  and  causes  wisdom 
to  be  reciprocally  conjoined  with  it  (n.  410-412). 
Angels  are  in  the  Lord,  and  the  Lord  is  in  them ; 
and  because  angels  are  recipients  the  Lord  alone  is 
heaven  (n.  113-118). 

30.    The   Lord's  heaven   in   the  natural  world 


THE 

is  called  the  church  ;  and  an  angel  of  that  heaven 
is  a  man  of  the  church  who  is  conjoined  with  the 
Lord,  and  who  becomes  an  angel  of  the  spiritual 
heaven  after  he  leaves  this  world.  From  this  it  is 
clear  that  what  has  been  said  of  the  angelic  heaven 
applies  equally  to  the  human  heaven  that  is  called 
the  church.  That  reciprocal  conjunction  with  the 
Lord  which  makes  heaven  in  man  is  revealed  by 
the  Lord  in  these  words  : 

"  Abide  in  Me  and  L  in  you He  that  abideth  in  Me 

and  I  in  him,  thjfsame  beareth  much  fruit ;  for  apart 
from  Me  ye  ca|Pdo  nothing"  (John  xv.  4,  5,  7). 

31,  From  all  this  it  can  be  seen  that  the  Lord 
is  heaven  not  only  in  general  in  all  there,  but  also 
in  particular  in  each  one  there.     For  each  angel  is 
a  heaven  in  the  least  form ;  and  heaven  in  general 
consists   of  as  many  heavens  as  there  are  angels. 
This  can  be  seen  in  the  work  on  Heaven  and  Hell 
(n.  51-58).     This  being  so,  let  no  one  cherish  the 
mistaken  idea  that  enters  into  the  first  thought  of 
many,  that  the  Lord   dwells  among  the  angels  in 
heaven,  or  is  with  them  like  a  king  in  his  kingdom. 
In  respect  to  their  sight  He  is  above  them  in  the 
sun  there;  but  in  respect  to  the  life  of  their  love 
and  wisdom  He  is  in  them. 

32.  (ii.)  From  creation  man  has  an  ability  to 
be  more  and  more  nearly  conjoined  with  the  Lord. — 
This  can  be  seen  from  what  has  been  set  forth  re- 
specting degrees  in  the  third  part  of  the  work  on 


CHAP  TER   II.,  N.  J2  37 

The  Divine  Love  and  Divine  Wisdom,  and  espe- 
cially from  the  following :  There  are  three  discrete 
degrees  or  degrees  of  height  in  man  from  creation 
(n.  230-235).  These  three  degrees  are  in  every  man 
from  birth ;  and  as  they  are  opened  man  is  in  the 
Lord  and  the  Lord  in  man  (n.  236-241).  All  per- 
fections increase  and  ascend  along  with  degrees, 
and  according  to  them  (n.  199-204).  From  all  this 
it  is  clear  that  from  creation  man  has  an  ability  to 
be  more  and  more  nearly  conjoined  with  the  Lord 
through  degrees. 

But  it  is  necessary  to  know  fully  what  degrees 
are,  and  that  there  are  two  kinds,  discrete  degrees, 
that  is,  degrees  of  height,  and  continuous  degrees, 
that  is,  degrees  of  breadth,  also  how  they  differ  ; 
and  to  know  that  every  man  by  his  creation  and 
consequently  by  birth  has  three  discrete  degrees  or 
degrees  of  height ;  also  that  man  comes  into  the 
first  degree,  which  is  called  the  natural,  when  he  is 
born,  and  may  develope  this  degree  in  himself  by 
continuous  additions  until  he  becomes  rational ;  also 
that  he  comes  into  the  second  degree,  which  is 
called  the  spiritual  degree,  when  he  lives  according 
to  the  spiritual  laws  of  order,  which  are  Divine 
truths ;  and  finally  that  he  can  come  into  the  third 
degree,  which  is  called  the  celestial,  if  he  lives  ac- 
cording to  celestial  laws  of  order,  which  are  Divine 
goods. 

These  degrees  the  Lord  opens  in  man  according 
to  his  life,  actually  in  this  world,  but  not  percepti- 
bly and  sensibly  till  after  he  leaves  this  world  ;  and 


38  THE    'DIVINE 

as  they  are  opened  and  afterwards  perfected  man  is 
more  and  more  nearly  conjoined  with  the  Lord. 
This  conjunction  by  continued  approach  may  go  on 
increasing  to  eternity,  and  with  the  angels  it  does 
increase  to  eternity.  And  yet  no  angel  is  able  to 
reach  or  even  to  come  near  to  the  first  degree  of  the 
Lord's  love  and  wisdom,  because  the  Lord  is  infinite 
and  an  angel  is  finite,  and  there  can  be  no  relation 
between  what  is  infinite  and  what  is  finite.  As  no 
one  is  able  without  a  knowledge  of  these  degrees  to 
understand  the  state  of  man  and  the  state  of  his 
elevation  and  approach  to  the  Lord,  they  have  been 
treated  of  in  detail  in  the  work  on  The  Divine  Love 
and  the  Divine  Wisdom  (n.  173-281),  which  may 
be  referred  to. 

33.  It  will  now  be  told  briefly  how  a  man  can 
be  more  nearly  conjoined  with  the  Lord,  and  then 
how  the  conjunction  appears  more  and  more  near. 
How  man  is  more  and  more  nearly  conjoined  with 
the  Lord: — This  is  effected  not  by  knowledge  alone, 
nor  by  intelligence  alone,  nor  even  by  wisdom  alone, 
but  by  a  life  conjoined  with  these.  Man's  life  is  his 
love,  and  the  love  is  manifold.  In  general,  there  is 
a  love  of  evil  and  a  love  of  good.  The  love  of  evil 
is  a  love  of  committing  adultery,  taking  revenge, 
defrauding,  blaspheming,  depriving  others  of  their 
goods.  In  thinking  about  these  things  and  in  do- 
ing them  the  love  of  evil  has  a  sense  of  enjoyment 
and  delight.  The  derivatives  of  this  love,  which  are 
its  affections,  are  as  many  as  are  the  evils  into  which 
it  has  determined  itself;  and  the  perceptions  and 


CHAPTER  II.,  N.  33  39 

thoughts  of  this  love  are  as  many  as  are  the  fals- 
ities that  favor  these  evils  and  confirm  them.  These 
falsities  make  one  with  the  evils,  as  the  understand- 
ing makes  one  with  the  will ;  they  are  not  separated 
from  each  other,  for  one  is  of  the  other. 

Since,  then,  the  Lord  flows  into  the  life's  love  of 
every  one,  and  through  its  affeclions  into  the  per- 
ceptions and  thoughts,  and  not  the  reverse,  as  has 
been  said  above,  it  follows  that  the  Lord  can  conjoin 
Himself  more  nearly  only  so  far  as  the  love  of  evil 
with  its  affections,  which  are  lusts,  has  been  set 
aside.  And  as  these  have  their  seat  in  the  natural 
man,  and  as  whatever  a  man  does  from  the  natural 
man  is  felt  as  if  done  from  himself,  so  man  ought  as 
if  from  himself  to  put  away  the  evils  of  that  love ; 
and  so  far  as  this  is  done  by  man  the  Lord  draws 
nearer  and  conjoins  Himself  with  him.  Any  one 
can  see  from  reason  that  lusts  with  their  enjoyments 
block  the  way  and  close  the  doors  before  the  Lord, 
and  that  these  can  not  be  cast  out  by  the  Lord  so 
long  as  man  himself  holds  the  doors  closed,  and 
by  pressing  and  pushing  from  without  prevents  their 
being  opened.  That  man  himself  ought  to  open 
them  is  clear  from  the  Lord's  words  in  the  Apoca- 
lypse ; 

"Behold  I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock  ;  if  any  one  hear 
My  voice  and  open  the  door  I  will  come  in  to  him, 
and  will  sup  with  him  and  he  with  Me  "  (iii.  20). 

From  this  it  is  evident  that  so  far  as  one  shuns 
evils  as  diabolical  and  as  obstacles  to  the  Lord's 


40  THE  TiiyiNE  TROCIDENCE 


entrance  he  is  more  and  more  nearly  conjoined 
with  the  Lord,  and  he  the  most  nearly  who  abom- 
inates them  as  so  many  dusky  and  fiery  devils  ; 
since  evil  and  the  devil  are  one,  and  the  falsity  of 
evil  and  Satan  are  one.  For  as  the  Lord's  influx 
is  into  the  love  of  good  and  into  its  affections,  and 
through  these  affections  into  the  perceptions  and 
thoughts  (and  these  are  all  truths  by  derivation 
from  the  good  in  which  the  man  is),  so  the  influx 
of  the  devil,  that  is,  of  hell,  is  into  the  love  of  evil 
and  into  its  affections,  which  are  lusts,  and  through 
these  into  the  perceptions  and  thoughts  (and  these 
are  all  falsities  by  derivation  from  the  evil  in  which 
the  man  is). 

How  that  conjunction  appears  more  and  more 
near  ;  —  The  more  fully  evils  in  the  natural  man  are 
set  aside  by  shunning  them  and  turning  away  from 
them,  the  more  nearly  is  man  conjoined  with  the 
Lord.  And  as  love  and  wisdom,  which  are  the 
Lord  Himself,  are  not  in  space  (since  affection, 
which  belongs  to  love,  and  thought,  which  belongs 
to  wisdom,  have  nothing  in  common  with  space),  so 
the  Lord  appears  to  be  nearer  in  the  measure  of  the 
conjunction  by  love  and  wisdom  ;  and  on  the  other 
hand,  more  remote  in  the  measure  of  the  rejection 
of  love  and  wisdom.  In  the  spiritual  world  there  is 
no  space,  but  there  distance  and  presence  are  ap- 
pearances in  accordance  with  similarities  and  dis- 
similarities of  affections  ;  for  the  reason,  as  has  been 
said  before,  that  affections,  which  belong  to  love, 
and  thoughts,  which  belong  to  wisdom,  and  which 


CHAPTER  II.,  N.  34  41 

in  themselves  are  spiritual,  are  not  in  space.  On 
this  subject  see  what  has  been  set  forth  in  the  work 
on  The  Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom  (n. 
7-10,  69-72,  and  elsewhere.) 

The  Lord's  conjunction  with  a  man  in  whom 
evils  have  been  put  away  is  meant  by  these  words 
of  the  Lord : 

"The  pure  in  heart  shall  see  God"  (Matt.  v.  8) ; 
and  by  these, 

"He  that  hath  My  commandments  and  doeth  them,. . . . 
I  will  make  My  abode  with  him"  (John  xiv.  21,  23). 

"To  have  the  commandments"  is  to  know,  and  "to 
keep  them  "  is  to  love ;  for  it  is  also  there  said  :  "  He 
that  doeth  My  commandments,  he  it  is  that  loveth 
Me." 

34.  (iii.)  The  more  nearly  a  man  is  conjoined 
with  the  Lord  the  wiser  he  becomes. — As  from  cre- 
ation and  thus  from  birth  there  are  three  degrees 
of  life  in  man  (of  which  just  above,  n.  32),  so  there 
are,  in  the  first  place,  three  degrees  of  wisdom  in 
him.  These  are  the  degrees  that  are  opened  in 
man  in  the  measure  of  conjunction.  They  are 
opened  in  the  measure  of  love,  since  love  is  con- 
junction itself.  Yet  the  ascent  of  love  according  to 
degrees  is  perceived  by  man  only  in  an  obscure 
way,  while  the  ascent  of  wisdom  is  clearly  perceived 
in  such  as  know  and  see  what  wisdom  is.  The 
degrees  of  wisdom  are  perceived  for  the  reason  that 
love  enters  through  the  affections  into  the  percep- 


42  THE  T>1YINE  'PROVIDENCE 

tions  and  thoughts,  and  these  present  themselves 
to  the  internal  sight  of  the  mind,  which  corresponds 
to  the  external  sight  of  the  body.  It  is  owing  to 
this  that  wisdom  is  manifest,  but  the  affection  of 
love  that  produces  it  is  not.  It  is  with  this  as  with 
all  things  that  are  actually  done  by  man.  It  is 
noticed  how  the  body  does  them,  but  not  how  the 
soul  does  them.  It  is  seen  how  one  meditates,  per- 
ceives, and  thinks ;  but  how  the  soul  of  these  activ- 
ities, which  is  an  affection  for  good  and  truth,  pro- 
duces the  meditation,  perception,  and  thought,  is 
not  seen. 

There  are  three  degrees  of  wisdom,  the  natural, 
the  spiritual,  and  the  celestial.  While  man  lives  in 
the  world  he  is  in  the  natural  degree  of  wisdom. 
This  degree  may  then  be  perfected  in  him  to  its 
highest  point,  but  it  cannot  enter  the  spiritual  de- 
gree, because  that  degree  is  not  connected  with  the 
natural  degree  continuously,  but  is  conjoined  with 
it  by  correspondences.  After  death  man  is  in  the 
spiritual  degree  of  wisdom  ;  and  this  degree  is  also 
such  that  it  may  be  perfected  to  the  highest  point, 
but  it  cannot  enter  the  celestial  degree  of  wisdom, 
for  that  degree  is  not  connected  with  the  spiritual 
continuously,  but  it  is  conjoined  with  it  by  corre- 
spondences. From  all  this  it  can  be  seen  that  wis- 
dom can  be  elevated  in  a  triplicate  ratio,  and  in 
each  degree  in  a  simple  ratio  to  its  highest  point. 

One  who  comprehends  the  elevation  and  perfect- 
ing of  these  degrees  can  in  some  measure  perceive 
the  truth  of  what  is  said  of  angelic  wisdom — that  it 


CHAPTER   II.,  N.  }6  43 

is  ineffable,  and  so  ineffable  that  a  thousand  ideas 
in  the  thought  of  angels  from  their  wisdom  can  pre- 
sent but  a  single  idea  in  the  thought  of  men  from 
their  wisdom,  the  other  nine  hundred  and  ninety- 
nine  ideas  of  angelic  thought  not  being  able  to  gain 
entrance,  because  they  are  supernatural.  That  this 
is  so  it  has  often  been  granted  me  to  know  by 
living  experience.  But,  as  said  above,  no  one  can 
come  into  that  ineffable  wisdom  of  the  angels  ex- 
cept through  conjunction  with  the  Lord  and  in 
the  measure  of  that  conjunction,  for  the  Lord  alone 
opens  the  spiritual  degree  and  the  celestial  degree, 
and  opens  them  in  those  only  who  are  wise  from 
Him  ;  and  those  are  wise  from  the  Lord  who  cast 
out  the  devil,  that  is,  evil,  from  themselves. 

35.  But  let  no  one  believe  that  it  is  wisdom  in 
any  one  to  know  many  things,  to  perceive  them  in 
some  light,  and  to  be  able  to  talk  about  them  in- 
telligently, unless  this  is  conjoined  with  love ;  for  it 
is  love  through  its  affections  that  produces  wisdom  ; 
and  wisdom  not  conjoined  with  love  is  like  a  meteor 
vanishing   in  the  air,  and   like  a  falling  star.     But 
when  wisdom  is  conjoined  with  love  it  is  like  the 
abiding  light  of  the  sun,  and  like  a  fixed  star.     A 
man  has  a  love  of  wisdom  so  far  as  he  turns  away 
from  the  diabolic  crowd,  which  are  lusts  for  evil  and 
falsity. 

36.  The  wisdom  that  comes  to  perception  is  a 
perception  of  truth  from  an  affection  for  it,  especially 
a  perception  of  spiritual  truth.     For  there  is  civil 
truth,  moral  truth,  and  spiritual  truth.     Those  who 


44  THE  THYME   VROWDENCE 

have  a  perception  of  spiritual  truth  from  an  affection 
for  it  have  also  a  perception  of  moral  and  of  civil 
truth  ;  for  of  these  perceptions  the  affection  for  spir- 
itual truth  is  the  soul.  I  have  sometimes  talked 
with  angels  about  wisdom  ;  and  they  said  that  wis- 
dom is  conjunction  with  the  Lord, because  the  Lord 
is  wisdom  itself;  and  that  he  comes  into  that  con- 
junction who  casts  out  hell  from  himself,  and  comes 
into  it  to  the  extent  that  he  casts  out  hell.  They 
said  that  they  represent  wisdom  to  themselves  as  a 
palace,  magnificent  and  highly  adorned,  the  ascent 
to  which  is  by  twelve  steps ;  and  that  only  from  the 
Lord  through  conjunction  with  Him  can  any  one 
reach  the  first  step  ;  and  he  ascends  in  the  measure 
of  the  conjunction ;  and  as  he  ascends  he  perceives 
that  no  one  is  wise  from  himself,  but  only  from  the 
Lord,  and  that  the  things  in  which  a  man  is  wise, 
compared  with  the  things  in  which  he  is  not  wise, 
are  as  a  few  drops  of  water  to  a  great  lake.  The 
twelve  steps  to  the  palace  of  wisdom  signify  goods 
conjoined  with  truths  and  truths  conjoined  with 
goods. 

37.  (iv.)  The  more  nearly  a  man  is  conjoined 
with  the  Lord  the  happier  he  becomes. — About  the 
degrees  of  happiness  the  same  may  be  said  as  has 
been  said  above  (n.  32  and  34),  about  the  degrees 
of  life  and  of  wisdom  in  the  measure  of  conjunction 
with  the  Lord.  For  happiness,  that  is,  beatitudes 
and  pleasures,  are  exalted  as  the  higher  degrees  of 
the  mind,  which  are  called  spiritual  and  celestial, 


CHAPTER  II.,  N.  }8  45 

are  opened  in  man ;  and  after  his  life  in  the  world 
these  degrees  are,  enlarged  to  eternity. 

38.  No  one  who  is  in  the  pleasures  of  the  lusts 
of  evil  can  know  anything  about  the  pleasures  of  af- 
fections for  good  in  which  the  angelic  heaven  is  ;  for 
these  two  kinds  of  pleasure  are  directly  opposite  to 
each  other  in  internals,  and  therefore  interiorly  are  op- 
posite in  externals ;  although  they  differ  little  on  the 
mere  surface.  For  every  love  has  its  own  pleasures, 
even  the  love  of  evil  in  those  who  are  in  lusts,  such 
as  the  love  of  committing  adultery,  taking  revenge, 
defrauding,  stealing,  doing  cruel  deeds,  and  in  the 
most  wicked  even  the  love  of  blaspheming  the  holy 
things  of  the  church,  and  of  speaking  foolishly  and 
venomously  against  God.  The  love  of  ruling  from 
love  of  self  is  the  fountain  head  of  these  pleasures. 
They  are  from  the  lusts  that  beset  the  interiors  of 
the  mind ;  and  from  the  interiors  they  flow  down  into 
the  body,  and  there  excite  the  unclean  things  that 
titillate  the  fibres ;  and  thus  bodily  pleasure  springs 
from  the  mind's  pleasure  in  accord  with  the  lusts. 

What  kinds  of  unclean  things  there  are  that 
titillate  the  bodily  fibres  of  such  persons  it  is  granted 
to  every  one  after  death  to  know  in  'the  spiritual 
world.  They  are  in  general  cadaverous,  excrement- 
itious,  stercoraceous,  reeking,  and  urinous  things,  for 
the  hells  of  such  abound  in  these  unclean  things. 
That  these  are  correspondences  can  be  seen  in  the 
work  on  The  Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom^ 
(n.  422-424).  But  after  they  have  entered  hell  these 
filthy  pleasures  are  turned  into  direful  things.  All 


46  THE  'DIISINE  'PROVIDENCE 

this  has  been  said  that  it  may  be  understood  what 
the  happiness  of  heaven  is,  and  the  nature  of  it, 
which  will  now  be  considered.  For  every  thing  is 
known  from  its  opposite. 

39.  The  joys,  satisfactions,  pleasures,  and  de- 
lights, in  a  word,  the  happinesses  of  heaven,  cannot 
be  described  in  words,  although  in  heaven  they  are 
perceptible  to  the  feeling  ;  for  what  is  perceptible  to 
the  feeling  only  cannot  be  described,  because  it  does 
not  fall  into  ideas  of  thought,  and  thus  not   into 
words ;  for  it  is  the  understanding  alone  that  sees ; 
and  it  sees  the  things  that  pertain  to  wisdom  or 
truth,  not  the  things  that  pertain  to  love  or  good. 
For  this  reason  these  happinesses  are  inexpressible  ; 
nevertheless  they  are  exalted  in  a  like  degree  with 
wisdom.     Their  varieties  are  infinite,  and  each  is 
ineffable.     This  I  have  heard  and  perceived. 

These  happinesses  enter  as  man  puts  away  the 
lusts  of  the  love  of  evil  and  falsity  as  if  of  himself, 
although  from  the  Lord ;  for  these  happinesses  are 
the  happinesses  of  the  affections  for  good  and  truth, 
and  are  the  opposites  of  the  lusts  of  the  love  of  evil 
and  falsity.  The  happinesses  of  affeclions  of  the 
love  of  good  and  truth  begin  from  the  Lord,  thus 
from  the  inmost ;  and  they  pour  themselves  forth 
therefrom  into  lower  things  even  to  the  lowest,  and 
thus  fill  the  angel,  making  him  to  be  as  it  were 
wholly  a  delight.  Such  happinesses  in  infinite  vari- 
ety  are  in  every  affection  for  good  and  truth,  espe- 
cially in  an  affection  for  wisdom. 

40.  The   pleasures  of  lusts  for   evil   and    the 


CHAPTER  II.,  N.  42  .  47 

pleasures  of  affections  for  good  cannot  be  compared  ; 
because  the  devil  is  inwardly  in  the  pleasures  of 
lusts  for  evil,  and  the  Lord  is  inwardly  in  the  pleas- 
ures of  affections  for  good.  If  a  comparison  must 
be  made,  the  pleasures  of  lusts  for  evil  can  only  be 
compared  to  the  lewd  pleasures  of  frogs  in  ponds, 
or  of  snakes  in  putrid  places  ;  while  the  pleasures 
of  affections  for  good  may  be  compared  to  the 
delights  of  the  mind  in  gardens  and  flower-beds. 
For  the  same  things  that  affect  frogs  and  snakes 
affect  those  in  the  hells  who  are  in  the  lusts  for  evil ; 
and  the  same  things  that  affect  the  mind  in  gardens 
and  flower-beds  affect  those  in  the  heavens  who  are 
in  affections  for  good  ;  for,  as  has  been  said  above, 
corresponding  unclean  things  affect  the  evil,  and 
corresponding  clean  things  affect  the  good. 

41.  From  all  this  it  can  be  seen  that  the  more 
nearly  any  one  is  conjoined  with  the  Lord  the  hap- 
pier he  becomes.     But  this  happiness  is  rarely  man- 
ifest in  the  world ;  for  man  is  then  in  a  natural  state, 
and  the  natural  does  not  communicate  with  the  spir- 
itual  by  continuity  but   by  correspondences  ;    and 
this  communication   is  felt  only  in  a  certain  quiet 
and  peace  of  mind,  that  especially  follows  combats 
against  evils.     But  when  man  puts  off  the  natural 
state  and  enters  the  spiritual  state,  which  he  does 
after  his  departure  from  the  world,  the  happiness 
described  above  gradually  manifests  itself. 

42.  (v.)    The  more  nearly  a  man  is  conjoined 
with  the  Lord  the  more  distinctly  does  he  appear  to 


48  THE  TUVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

himself  to  be  his  own,  and  the  more  clearly  does  he 
recognize  that  he  is  the  Lord's. — There  is  an  ap- 
pearance that  the  more  nearly  one  is  conjoined  with 
the  Lord  the  less  he  is  his  own.  It  so  appears  to 
all  who  are  evil ;  and  it  so  appears  to  those  who 
believe  from  their  religion  that  they  are  not  under 
the  yoke  of  the  law,  and  that  no  one  can  do  good 
from  himself.  For  all  such  are  unable  to  see  other- 
wise than  that  not  to  be  one's  own  is  not  to  be 
allowed  to  think  and  will  evil,  but  only  good ;  and 
as  those  who  are  conjoined  with  the  Lord  are  nei- 
ther willing  nor  able  to  think  and  will  evil,  all  such 
conclude  from  the  appearance  to  themselves,  that 
this  is  not  to  be  one's  own.  This,  however,  is  the 
exacl  opposite  of  the  truth. 

43.  There  is  infernal  freedom  and  there  is 
heavenly  freedom.  To  think  and  will  evil,  and  to 
speak  and  do  it  so  far  as  civil  and  moral  laws  do 
not  hinder,  is  from  infernal  freedom.  But  to  think 
and  will  good,  and  to  speak  and  do  it  so  far  as 
opportunity  is  granted,  is  from  heavenly  freedom. 
Whatever  a  man  thinks,  wills,  speaks,  and  does 
from  freedom  seems  to  him  to  be  his  own  ;  for  every 
one's  freedom  is  wholly  from  his  love.  For  this 
reason,  those  who  are  in  a  love  of  evil  have  no 
other  perception  than  that  infernal  freedom  is  free- 
dom itself ;  while  those  who  are  in  a  love  of  good 
perceive  that  heavenly  freedom  is  freedom  itself, 
and  consequently  its  opposite  is  slavery  both  to  the 
good  and  to  the  evil.  Yet  every  one  must  confess 
that  the  one  or  the  other  of  these  is  freedom  ;  for 


CHAPTER   II.,  N.  44  49 

there  cannot  be  two  kinds  of  freedom,  in  themselves 
opposite  and  each  freedom  in  itself.  Furthermore, 
every  one  must  confess  that  to  be  led  by  good  is 
freedom,  and  to  be  led  by  evil  is  slavery ;  because 
to  be  led  by  good  is  to  be  led  by  the  Lord,  and  to 
be  led  by  evil  is  to  be  led  by  the  devil. 

Since,  then,  everything  that  a  man  does  from 
freedom  appears  to  him  to  be  his  own,  for  it  is  of 
his  love,  and  to  act  from  one's  love  is  to  act  from 
freedom,  as  has  been  said  above,  so  it  follows  that 
it  is  conjunction  with  the  Lord  that  makes  a  man 
seem  to  himself  to  be  free  and  therefore  his  own ; 
and  the  nearer  the  conjunction  with  the  Lord  is  the 
more  free  he  seems,  and  thus  the  more  his  own. 
He  appears  to  himself  more  distinftly  to  be  his  own, 
because  the  Divine  love  is  such  that  it  wills  its  own 
to  be  another's,  thus  to  be  the  man's  or  the  angel's. 
Such  is  all  spiritual  love,  and  pre-eminently  the 
Divine  love.  Moreover,  the  Lord  in  no  wise  com- 
pels any  one ;  for  anything  to  which  one  is  com- 
pelled does  not  appear  to  be  his  own  ;  and  what 
does  not  appear  to  be  one's  own  cannot  come  to 
be  of  his  love,  and  thus  be  appropriated  to  him  as 
his.  Therefore  man  is  led  by  the  Lord  continually 
in  freedom  and  is  also  reformed  and  regenerated 
in  freedom.  But  of  this  more  will  be  said  in  what 
follows  ;  something  may  also  be  seen  above  (n.  4). 

44.  The  more  distinctly  a  man  appears  to  him- 
self to  be  his  own  the  more  clearly  he  recognizes 
that  he  is  the  Lord's,  because  the  more  nearly  he 
is  conjoined  with  the  Lord  the  wiser  he  becomes 


50  THE  'DIVINE  TROWDENCE 

(as  has  been  shown  above,  n.  34-36) ;  this  truth 
wisdom  recognizes  and  teaches  ;  and  the  angels  of 
the  third  heaven,  because  they  are  the  wisest  of  the 
angels,  also  perceive  it  and  call  it  freedom  itself; 
but  to  be  led  by  themselves  they  call  slavery.  And 
this,  they  say,  is  the  reason :  that  the  Lord  does 
not  flow  immediately  into  what  belongs  to  their  per- 
ception and  thought  from  wisdom,  but  into  their  af- 
fections of  love  for  good,  and  through  these  into  the 
former ;  that  they  have  a  perception  of  the  influx 
in  the  affection  from  which  they  have  wisdom  ;  and 
that  then  all  that  they  think  from  wisdom  appears  to 
be  from  themselves,  and  therefore  as  their  own  ;  and 
that  by  this  a  reciprocal  conjunction  is  established. 

45.  As  the  end  of  the  Lord's  Divine  providence 
is  a  heaven  from  the  human  race,  it  follows  that  its 
end  is  the  conjunction  of  the  human  race  with  Him- 
self (see  n.  28-31) ;  also  that  its  end  is  for  man  to 
be  more  and  more  nearly  conjoined  with  Him  (see 
n-  32>  33)>  f°r  tnus  man  possesses  heaven  more  in- 
teriorly ;  also  that  its  end  is  for  man  by  that  con- 
junction to  become  wiser  (see  n.  34-36) ;  also  to 
become  happier  (see  n.  37-41),  because  it  is  from 
wisdom  and  according  to  it  that  man  has  heaven, 
and  by  means  of  it  has  happiness ;  and  finally,  that 
its  end  is  for  man  to  appear  to  himself  more  dis- 
tinctly to  be  his  own,  and  yet  to  recognize  more 
clearly  that  he  is  the  Lord's  (see  n.  42-44).  All 
these  things  are  of  the  Lord's  Divine  providence; 
for  they  all  are  heaven,  which  it  has  for  its  end. 


III. 


THE  LORD'S  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE   LOOKS    IN   EVERY  THING 
THAT  IT  DOES  TO  WHAT    IS  INFINITE  AND  ETERNAL. 

46. 

F  T  is  known  in  the  Christian  world  that  God  is 
J_  Infinite  and  Eternal ;  for  in  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity  that  has  its  name  from  Athanasius  it  is 
said  that  God  the  Father  is  Infinite,  Eternal,  and 
Omnipotent ;  likewise  God  the  Son,  and  God  the 
Holy  Spirit;  and  yet  there  are  not  three  that  are 
Infinite,  Eternal,  and  Omnipotent,  but  One.  From 
this  it  follows  that  as  God  is  Infinite  and  Eternal, 
nothing  but  what  is  Infinite  and  Eternal  can  be 
predicated  of  God.  But  what  the  Infinite  and  Eter- 
nal is  the  finite  cannot  comprehend  ;  and  yet  it  can. 
The  finite  cannot  comprehend  it  because  it  cannot 
contain  the  infinite ;  and  it  can  comprehend  it  be- 
cause there  are  abstract  ideas  by  means  of  which 
the  existence  of  things  can  be  seen,  if  not  the  nat- 
ure of  them.  Such  ideas  are  possible  respecting  the 
Infinite ;  as  that  God  because  He  is  Infinite,  that  is, 
the  Divine  because  it  is  Infinite,  is  Being  (esse)  itself, 
is  Essence  itself  and  Substance  itself,  is  Love  itself 
and  Wisdom  itself,  or  Good  itself  and  Truth  itself, 
and  therefore  is  the  Itself,  yea,  is  Man  Himself;  and 
when  the  Infinite  is  said  to  be  the  All,  that  Infinite 


52  THE 

Wisdom  is  Omniscience,  and  that  Infinite  Power  is 
Omnipotence. 

And  yet  such  ideas  as  these  fall  into  obscurity 
of  thought,  and  perhaps,  from  their  incomprehensi- 
bility, into  denial,  unless  those  things  that  thought 
derives  from  nature  are  withdrawn  from  the  idea, 
especially  those  that  it  derives  from  the  two  proper- 
ties of  nature,  space  and  time  ;  for  these  must  needs 
limit  ideas  and  cause  abstract  ideas  to  be  as  no- 
thing. But  if  these  can  be  withdrawn  in  man  as 
they  are  in  an  angel,  the  Infinite  may  be  compre- 
hended by  means  of  such  ideas  as  are  enumerated 
just  above,  and  also  from  this,  that  man  is  some- 
thing because  he  was  created  by  an  Infinite  God 
who  is  the  All ;  also  that  man  is  a  finite  substance 
because  he  was  created  by  an  Infinite  God  who  is 
Substance  Itself;  also,  that  man  is  wisdom,  because 
he  was  created  by  an  Infinite  God  who  is  Wisdom 
itself,  and  so  on.  For  unless  the  Infinite  God  were 
the  All,  and  were  Substance  itself  and  Wisdom  itself, 
man  would  not  be  anything ;  consequently  either  a 
nonentity  or  merely  an  idea  of  being,  according  to 
those  visionaries  that  are  called  idealists. 

From  what  has  been  shown  in  the  work  on  The 
Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom,  it  is  clear 
that  the  Divine  Essence  is  love  and  wisdom  (n. 
28-39) ;  that  the  Divine  love  and  the  Divine  wis- 
dom are  substance  itself  and  form  itself,  and  are 
the  Very  and  the  Only  (n.  40-46);  and  that  God 
created  the  universe  and  all  things  thereof  from 
Himself  and  not  from  nothing  (n.  282-284).  From 


CHAPTER  111.,  N.  48  55 

this  it  follows  that  every  created  thing,  and  especially 
man,  and  the  love  and  wisdom  in  him,  are  some- 
thing, and  not  merely  an  idea  of  being.  For  un- 
less God  were  Infinite  there  could  be  no  finite ;  and 
unless  the  Infinite  were  the  All  there  could  not  be 
any  thing ;  and  unless  God  had  created  all  things 
from  Himself  there  would  be  nullity  or  nothing. 
In  a  word,  we  are  because  God  is. 

47.  As  the  Divine  providence  is  here  treated 
of,  and  it  is  here  to  be  shown  that  in  every  thing  it 
does  it  looks  to  the  Infinite  and  Eternal,  and  as  this 
cannot  be  clearly  set  forth  except  in  some  order, 
the  order  shall  be  as  follows  : 

(i.)  The  Infinite  in  itself  and  the  Eternal  in 
itself  is  the  same  as  the  Divine. 

(ii.)  The  Infinite  and  Eternal  in  itself  must 
needs  look  to  what  is  infinite  {and  eter- 
nal} from  itself  in  things  finite. 

(iii.)  The  Divine  providence,  in  every  thing  it 
does,  looks  to  what  is  infinite  and  eternal 
from  itself,  especially  in  saving  the  hu- 
man race. 

(iv.)  An  image  of  the  Infinite  and  Eternal  is 
presented  in  an  angelic  heaven  from  a 
saved  human  race. 

(v.)  Looking  to  what  is  Infinite  and  Eternal  in 
the  formation  of  the  angelic  heaven,  that 
it  may  be  before  the  Lord  as  one  man 
which  is  an  image  of  Himself  ,  is  the  in- 
most of  the  Divine  providence. 

48.  (i.)    The  Infinite  in  itself  and  the  Eternal 
in  itself  is  the  same  as  the  Divine. — This  can  be 
seen  from  what  has  been  shown  in  many  places  in 


54  THE  "'DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

the  work  on  The  Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wis- 
dom. That  the  Infinite  in  itself  and  the  Eternal  in 
itself  is  the  Divine  is  in  accord  with  the  angelic 
idea,  the  angels  understanding  by  the  Infinite  no- 
thing else  than  the  Divine  being  (esse),  and  by  the 
Eternal  the  Divine  manifestation  (existere).  Men  also 
are  able  to  see  that  the  Infinite  in  itself  and  Eter- 
nal in  itself  is  the  Divine,  and  are  not  able  to  see  it. 
Those  can  see  it  who  think  of  the  Infinite  not  from 
space,  and  of  the  Eternal  not  from  time ;  but  those 
who  think  of  what  is  infinite  and  eternal  from  space 
and  time  can  not  see  it.  Therefore  it  can  be  seen 
by  those  who  think  in  a  higher  or  interior  way  in 
the  rational,  but  can  not  be  seen  by  those  who  think 
in  a  lower  or  exterior  way.  It  can  be  seen  by  those 
who  call  to  mind  that  an  infinity  of  space  is  impos- 
sible, also  an  infinity  of  time,  which  is  an  eternity 
from  which  [things  have  been]  ;  because  infinity  is 
without  end,  either  first  or  last,  that  is,  without  lim- 
its ;  and  who  also  call  to  mind  that  an  Infinite  from 
itself  is  impossible,  because  from  itself  supposes 
limit  and  beginning,  or  a  prior  from  which  it  is  ; 
therefore  it  is  unmeaning  to  speak  of  the  Infinite 
and  Eternal  from  itself,  for  this  would  be  like  say- 
ing being  (esse)  from  itself,  which  is  a  contradiction  ; 
for  an  Infinite  from  itself  would  be  an  Infinite  from 
an  Infinite,  and  Esse  from  itself  would  be  Esse  from 
an  Esse ;  and  this  Infinite  and  Esse  would  either 
be  the  same  with  The  Infinite  or  would  be  finite. 
From  these  and  like  reasons,  which  can  be  seen  in- 
teriorly in  the  rational,  it  is  evident  that  there  is  an 


CHAPTER  III.,  N.  49  55 

Infinite  in  itself  and  an  Eternal  in  itself;  and  that 
this  Infinite  and  Eternal  is  the  Divine  from  which 
are  all  things. 

49.  I  know  that  many  will  say  to  themselves, 
How  can  one  comprehend  interiorly  in  his  rational 
any  thing  apart  from  space  and  apart  from  time, 
and  not  only  that  this  is,  but  also  that  it  is  the  All 
and  the  Very,  from  which  all  things  are?  But  con- 
sider interiorly  whether  love  or  any  affection  of  it, 
or  wisdom  or  any  perception  of  it,  or  even  thought, 
is  in  space  and  in  time;  and  you  will  find  that  it 
is  not.  And  since  the  Divine  is  love  itself  and  wis- 
dom itself,  it  follows  that  the  Divine  cannot  be  con- 
ceived of  as  in  space  and  in  time ;  so  neither  can 
the  Infinite. 

For  a  clearer  perception  of  this,  carefully  decide 
whether  thought  is  in  time  and  space.  Suppose 
thought  to  go  on  for  ten  or  twelve  hours,  may  not 
this  length  of  time  seem  to  be  no  more  than  one  or 
two  hours,  or  may  it  not  seem  to  be  one  or  two 
days?  The  apparent  duration  is  according  to  the 
state  of  affection  from  which  the  thought  springs. 
If  it  is  an  affection  of  gladness,  in  which  there  is 
no  thought  about  time,  ten  or  twelve  hours  of 
thought  seem  no  more  than  one  or  two ;  but  if  it 
is  an  affection  of  sorrow,  in  which  time  is  attended 
to,  the  reverse  will  be  true.  All  this  makes  clear 
that  time  is  only  an  appearance  in  accord  with  the 
state  of  affection  from  which  the  thought  springs. 
The  same  is  true  of  thought  about  distance  in 


56  THE  TUVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

space,  either  when  walking  or  when  making  a  jour- 
ney. 

50.  As  angels  and  spirits  are  affections  that 
belong  to  love,  and  thoughts  from  affection,  they 
are  consequently  not  in  space  and  time,  but  only  in 
the  appearance  of  them.  To  them  there  is  an  ap- 
pearance of  space  and  time,  in  accord  with  their 
states  of  affection  and  thoughts  therefrom.  When, 
therefore,  an  angel  thinks  about  another  with  a  de- 
terminate wish  to  see  him  or  speak  with  him,  he  is 
instantly  present  before  him.  From  this  it  is  that 
with  every  man  there  are  spirits  present  that  are 
in  like  affection  with  himself,  evil  spirits  with  one 
who  is  an  affection  for  a  like  evil,  and  good  spirits 
with  one  who  is  an  affection  for  like  good ;  and 
they  are  as  really  present  as  if  the  man  were  includ- 
ed in  their  society.  Space  and  time  have  nothing 
to  do  with  that  presence ;  because  affection  and  the 
thought  from  it  are  not  in  space  and  time ;  and 
spirits  and  angels  are  affections  and  thoughts  there- 
from. 

That  this  is  so  it  has  been  granted  me  to  know 
from  a  living  experience  of  many  years,  and  from 
having  talked  with  many  after  their  death,  with 
some  in  Europe  and  its  various  kingdoms,  and  with 
some  in  Asia  and  Africa  and  their  various  king- 
doms ;  and  they  all  were  near  me.  If  there  were 
space  and  time  with  them,  a  journey  and  time  to 
make  it  would  have  intervened. 

In  fact,  this  is  known  to  every  man  from  an  in- 
tuition in  himself  or  in  his  mind,  which  has  been 


CHAPTER  III.,  N.  51  57 

proved  to  me  by  this,  that  no  one  thought  of  any 
distance  in  space  when  told  that  I  had  spoken  with 
some  one  who  had  died  in  Asia,  Africa,  or  Europe  ; 
as,  for  example,  with  Calvin,  Luther,  Melanclhon,  or 
with  some  king,  ruler,  or  priest  in  a  distant  land ; 
nor  did  any  thought  arise,  How  could  he  speak 
with  those  who  lived  so  far  away,  or  how  could 
they  come  and  be  with  him,  when  lands  and  seas 
intervened?  This  has  made  clear  to  me  also  that 
no  one  thinks  from  space  and  time  when  thinking 
of  those  who  are  in  the  spiritual  world.  Neverthe- 
less, that  there  is  an  appearance  of  space  and  time 
there  may  be  seen  in  the  work  on  Heaven  and  Hell 
(n.  162-169,  191-199). 

5T.  From  all  this  it  can  now  be  seen  that  the 
Infinite  and  Eternal,  thus  the  Lord,  must  be  thought 
of  apart  from  space  and  time,  and  that  such  thought 
is  possible  ;  also  that  those  have  such  thought  who 
think  interiorly  in  the  rational ;  and  that  then  the 
Infinite  and  Eternal  is  the  same  as  the  Divine. 
Thus  cjo  angels  and  spirits  think.  From  thought 
abstracted  from  time  and  space  a  comprehension 
of  the  Divine  Omnipresence  and  the  Divine  Omni- 
potence, also  of  the  Divine  from  eternity,  is  possi- 
ble ;  but  none  at  all  from  thought  to  which  an  idea 
from  space  and  time  clings.  From  all  this  it  is  clear 
that  God  from  eternity  can  be  thought  about,  but 
in  no  wise  nature  from  eternity ;  consequently  the 
creation  of  the  universe  by  God  can  be  thought 
about,  but  in  no  wise  creation  from  nature ;  for 
space  and  time  are  properties  of  nature,  but  the 


58  THE  VICINE  'PROYIDENCE 

Divine  is  apart  from  space  and  time.  That  the 
Divine  is  apart  from  space  and  time  can  be  seen  in 
the  work  on  The  Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wis- 
dom (n.  7-10,  69-72,  73-76,  and  elsewhere). 


(ii.)  The  Infinite  and  Eternal  in  itself  must 
needs  look  to  what  is  infinite  and  eternal  from  itself 
in  things  finite.  —  By  the  Infinite  and  Eternal  in  it- 
self the  Divine  itself  is  meant,  as  has  been  shown  in 
the  preceding  article  ;  by  things  finite  all  things  cre- 
ated by  the  Divine,  especially  men,  spirits,  and  an- 
gels, are  meant,  and  to  look  to  what  is  infinite  and 
eternal  from  Itself  is  to  look  to  the  Divine,  that  is, 
Itself,  in  these,  as  a  man  looks  at  his  image  in  a 
mirror.  That  this  is  so  has  been  shown  in  many 
places  in  the  work  on  The  Divine  Love  and  the 
Divine  Wisdom,  especially  where  it  has  been  shown 
that  in  the  created  universe  there  is  an  image  of 
man,  and  this  is  an  image  of  what  is  infinite  and 
eternal  (n.  317,  318),  thus  an  image  of  God  the  Cre- 
ator, that  is,  the  Lord  from  eternity.  But  let  it  be 
understood  that  the  Divine  in  itself  is  in  the  Lord, 
and  the  Divine  from  itself  is  the  Divine  from  the 
Lord  in  created  things. 

53.  But  that  this  may  be  more  fully  understood 
it  shall  be  illustrated.  The  Divine  can  look  only 
to  the  Divine  ;  and  it  can  look  to  this  nowhere  but 
in  things  created  by  Itself.  That  this  is  true  is  evi- 
dent from  this,  that  one  can  look  to  another  only 
from  what  is  his  own  in  himself.  He  that  loves  an- 
other looks  to  him  from  his  own  love  in  himself; 


CHAPTER  III.,  N.  53  59 

and  he  that  is  wise  looks  to  another  from  his  own 
wisdom  in  himself.  He  may  see  that  the  other  loves 
him  or  does  not  love  him,  and  is  wise  or  not  wise, 
but  this  he  sees  from  the  love  and  wisdom  in  him- 
self; and  therefore  he  conjoins  himself  with  the 
other  so  far  as  the  other  loves  him  as  he  loves  the 
other,  or  so  far  as  the  other  is  wise  as  he  is  wise  ; 
for  thus  they  make  one. 

It  is  the  same  with  the  Divine  in  itself,  for  the 
Divine  in  itself  is  not  able  to  look  to  itself  from  an- 
other, that  is,  from  a  man  or  a  spirit  or  an  angel  ; 
for  there  is  nothing  in  them  of  the  Divine  in  itself 
from  which  [all  things  are],  and  to  look  to  the  Di- 
vine from  another  in  whom  there  is  nothing  of  the 
Divine  would  be  to  look  to  the  Divine  from  what 
is  not  Divine,  which  is  not  possible.  For  this  rea- 
son the  conjunction  of  the  Lord  with  a  man  or  a 
spirit  or  an  angel  is  such  that  every  thing  that  has 
relation  to  the  Divine  is  not  from  them,  but  from 
the  Lord.  For  it  is  known  that  all  the  good  and 
all  the  truth  that  any  one  has  is  from  the  Lord 
and  not  from  himself,  and  that  no  one  can  even  men- 
tion the  Lord,  or  His  names,  "Jesus,"  and  "Christ," 
except  from  Him. 

From  this,  then,  it  follows,  that  the  Infinite  and 
Eternal,  which  is  the  same  as  the  Divine,  looks  to 
all  things  in  the  finite  infinitely,  and  conjoins  Itself 
with  them  in  accord  with  the  degree  of  reception  of 
wisdom  and  love  in  them.  In  a  word,  the  Lord  can 
have  an  abode  in  man  or  angel  and  dwell  with 
them,  only  in  His  own,  and  not  in  what  is  their 


60  THE  'DIVINE 

own  \proprium},  for  that  is  evil ;  and  if  it  were  good 
it  would  be  finite,  which  in  itself  and  from  itself  can 
not  contain  the  Infinite.  All  this  makes  clear  that 
it  is  impossible  for  a  finite  being  to  look  to  the  In- 
finite ;  but  it  is  possible  for  the  Infinite  to  look  to 
what  is  infinite  from  Himself  in  finite  beings. 

54.  There  is  an  appearance  that  no  conjunction 
is  possible  between  the  Infinite  and  the  finite,  be- 
cause there  is  no  possible  ratio  between  them,  and 
because  the  finite  cannot  contain  what  is  infinite ; 
nevertheless,  such  a  conjunction  is  possible,  both  be- 
cause the  Infinite  created  all  things  from  Himself 
(as  is  shown  in  the  work  on  The  Divine  Love  and 
the  Divine  Wisdom,  n.  282—284),  and  because  the 
Infinite  in  things  finite  can  look  only  to  what  is  in- 
finite from  Himself,  and  with  finite  beings  this  infin- 
ite from  Himself  can  appear  to  be  in  them,  whereby 
a  ratio  between  the  finite  and  the  infinite  is  pro- 
vided, not  from  the  finite,  but  from  the  infinite  in 
the  finite  ;  and  by  this  also  the  finite  being  becomes 
capable  of  containing  what  is  infinite,  not  the  finite 
being  in  himself,  but  as  if  in  himself  from  what  is 
infinite  from  itself  in  him.     But  of  this  more  in  what 
now  follows. 

55.  (iii.)    The  Divine  providence,  in  all  that  it 
does,  looks  to  what  is  infinite  and  eternal  from  it- 
self, especially  in  saving  the  human  race. — The  In- 
finite and  Eternal  in  itself  is  the  Divine  itself,  or  the 
Lord  in  Himself,  while  the  Infinite  and  Eternal  from 
itself  is  the  Divine  going  forth,  that  is,  the  Lord  in 


CHAPTER   111.,  N.  $6  61 

others  created  from  Himself,  thus  in  men  and  in 
angels  ;  and  this  Divine  is  the  same  as  the  Divine 
providence.  For  by  means  of  the  Divine  from  Him- 
self the  Lord  provides  that  all  things  may  be  held 
together  in  the  order  in  which  and  into  which  they 
were  created.  And  as  this  is  the  work  of  the  Divine 
that  goes  forth,  it  follows  that  all  this  is  the  Divine 
providence. 

56.  That  the  Divine  providence  in  every  thing 
that  it  does  looks  to  what  is  infinite  and  eternal 
from  itself  can  be  seen  from  this,  that  every  created 
thing  goes  forth  from  a  First,  which  is  the  Infinite 
and  Eternal,  to  things  last,  and  from  things  last  to 
the  First  from  which  (a  quo],  as  has  been  shown  in 
the  work  on  The  Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wis- 
dom, where  the  creation  of  the  universe  is  treated  of. 
And  as  the  First  from  which  (a  quo)  is  inmostly  in  all 
development,  it  follows  that  the  Divine  that  goes 
forth,  that  is,  the  Divine  providence,  in  all  that  it 
does,  looks  to  some  image  of  the  Infinite  and  Eter- 
nal. This  it  looks  to  in  all  things,  but  in  some 
things  obviously  to  perception,  in  others  not.  It 
presents  that  image  obviously  to  perception  in  the 
variety  of  all  things,  and  in  the  fructification  and 
multiplication  of  all  things. 

An  image  of  the  Infinite  and  Eternal  in  the 
variety  of  all  things,  is  apparent  in  this,  that  there 
is  no  thing  that  is  the  same  as  another,  nor  can 
there  be  to  eternity.  In  the  faces  of  men  this  is 
evident  to  the  eye  from  the  beginning  of  their  cre- 
ation ;  consequently  it  is  evident  from  their  minds, 


62  THE  *D/K/N£  ^PROVIDENCE 

of  which  their  faces  are  types  ;  also  from  their  affec- 
tions, perceptions,  and  thoughts,  for  these  constitute 
the  mind.  For  this  reason  in  the  entire  heaven 
there  are  no  two  angels  or  no  two  spirits  that  are 
the  same ;  nor  can  there  be  to  eternity.  The  same 
is  true  of  every  visible  object  in  the  two  worlds,  the 
natural  and  the  spiritual.  From  all  this  it  can  be 
seen  that  variety  is  infinite  and  eternal. 

An  image  of  the  Infinite  and  Eternal  in  the 
fructification  and  multiplication  of  all  things,  is 
evident  in  the  vegetable  kingdom  from  the  ability 
implanted  in  seeds,  and  in  the  animal  kingdom  from 
prolification,  especially  in  fishes,  which,  if  fructified 
and  multiplied  to  the  extent  of  their  ability,  would 
within  a  century  fill  the  entire  space  of  the  world 
and  even  of  the  universe.  From  this  it  is  clear  that 
in  that  ability  an  endeavor  to  an  infinite  self-propa- 
gation lies  hidden.  And  as  fructifications  and  mul- 
tiplications have  not  failed  from  the  beginning  of 
creation,  nor  will  ever  fail  to  eternity,  it  follows  that 
in  that  ability  there  is  also  an  endeavor  to  an  eter- 
nal self-propagation. 

57.  The  same  is  true  of  men  in  regard  to  their 
affections  which  belong  to  their  love,  and  their  per- 
ceptions which  belong  to  their  wisdom.  The  variety 
of  both  of  these  is  infinite  and  eternal ;  so,  too, 
their  fructification  and  their  multiplication,  which 
are  spiritual.  No  man  enjoys  an  affection  or  per- 
ception so  like  another's  as  to  be  the  same  ;  nor 
can  such  ever  be.  Moreover,  affections  may  be 
fructified  and  perceptions  multiplied  without  end. 


CHAPTER  III.,  N.  $8  63 

That  knowledge  is  inexhaustible  is  known.  This 
ability  to  frucWy  and  multiply  without  end,  that  is, 
infinitely  and  eternally,  men  have  in  natural  things, 
the  spiritual  angels  in  spiritual  things,  and  the  celes- 
tial angels  in  celestial  things.  Not  only  are  affec- 
tions, perceptions,  and  knowledges  such  in  general  ; 
but  also  every  single  thing  in  them,  even  the  least, 
in  particular.  They  are  such  because  they  have 
their  existence  from  the  Infinite  and  Eternal  in  itself 
by  means  of  what  is  infinite  and  eternal  from  itself. 
But  inasmuch  as  the  finite  has  in  itself  nothing  of 
the  Divine,  there  is  in  man  or  angel  no  such  thing 
as  his  own,  not  even  the  least,  for  a  man  or  an  angel 
is  finite,  and  purely  a  receptacle,  in  itself  dead  ;  and 
whatever  is  living  in  him  is  from  the  Divine  going 
forth  conjoined  with  him  by  contiguity,  and  appear- 
ing to  him  as  if  it  were  his.  That  this  is  so  will  be 
seen  in  what  follows. 

58.  The  Divine  providence  looks  to  what  is 
infinite  and  eternal  from  itself  especially  in  saving 
the  human  race,  because  the  Divine  providence  has 
as  its  end  a  heaven  from  the  human  race  (as  has 
been  shown  above,  n.  27-45)  ;  and  because  this  is 
its  end  it  follows  that  the  reformation  and  the  re- 
generation of  man,  thus  his  salvation,  is  what  the 
Divine  providence  especially  looks  to,  for  from  those 
that  have  been  saved  or  regenerated  heaven  exists. 
Since  to  regenerate  man  is  to  unite  good  and  truth 
in  him,  or  love  and  wisdom,  as  they  are  united  in 
the  Divine  that  goes  forth  from  the  Lord,  it  is  to 
this  that  the  Divine  providence  especially  looks  in 


64  THE  'DIVINE  TROl/IDENCE 

saving  the  human  race.  The  image  of  the  Infinite 
and  Eternal  is  in  man  exclusively  in  the  marriage 
of  good  and  truth.  That  this  is  accomplished  in 
mankind  by  the  Divine  that  goes  forth  is  known 
from  the  facl:  that  there  have  been  those  who  when 
filled  with  the  Divine  that  goes  forth,  which  is  called 
the  Holy  Spirit,  have  prophesied,  of  whom  in  the 
Word ;  and  there  are  those  who,  when  enlightened, 
behold  Divine  truths  in  the  light  of  heaven ;  this 
can  be  especially  seen  in  angels,  who  sensibly  per- 
ceive the  presence,  the  influx,  and  the  conjunction ; 
but  angels  also  recognize  that  this  conjunction  is 
nothing  more  than  what  may  be  called  an  adjunc- 
tion. 

59.  It  has  not  heretofore  been  known  that  the 
Divine  providence  in  its  whole  progress  with  man 
looks  to  his  eternal  state.  It  can  look  to  nothing 
else,  because  the  Divine  is  Infinite  and  Eternal,  and 
the  Infinite  and  Eternal,  that  is,  the  Divine,  is  not 
in  time,  and  therefore  all  future  things  are  present 
to  it ;  and  the  Divine  being  such,  it  follows  that 
there  is  what  is  eternal  in  each  and  every  thing  that 
it  does.  But  those  who  think  from  time  and  space 
scarcely  perceive  this,  not  only  because  they  love 
temporal  things,  but  also  because  they  think  from 
what  is  present  in  the  world  and  not  from  what  is 
present  in  heaven,  for  that  is  to  .them  as  far  away  as 
the  end  of  the  earth.  But  when  those  who  are  in 
the  Divine  think  from  what  is  present,  they  think 
from  what  is  eternal  because  they  think  from  the 
Lord,  saying  within  themselves,  What  is  that  which 


CHAPTER  111.,   N.    60  65 

is  not  eternal?  Is  not  the  temporal  relatively  no- 
thing, and  does  it  not  become  nothing  when  it  is 
ended?  It  is  not  so  with  what  is  eternal;  that  alone 
Is  ;  for  its  being  (esse)  has  no  end.  To  think  thus 
when  thinking  from  what  is  present  is  to  think 
at  the  same  time  from  what  is  eternal ;  and  when  a 
man  so  thinks,  and  at  the  same  time  so  lives,  the 
Divine  going  forth  in  him,  that  is,  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence, looks  in  its  entire  progress  to  the  state  of 
his  eternal  life  in  heaven,  and  leads  towards  it. 
That  in  every  man,  both  in  the  evil  and  in  the  good, 
the  Divine  looks  to  what  is  eternal,  will  be  seen  in 
what  follows. 

60.  (iv.)  An  image  of  the  Infinite  and  Eter- 
nal is  presented  in  an  angelic  heaven. — Among  the 
things  we  need  to  know  about  is  the  angelic  heaven  ; 
for  every  one  who  has  any  religion  thinks  about  it, 
and  wishes  to  go  there.  But  heaven  is  granted 
only  to  those  who  know  the  way  to  it  and  walk 
in  that  way.  And  that  way  can  to  some  extent  be 
known  by  knowing  the  character  of  those  who 
constitute  heaven,  also  by  knowing  that  no  one  be- 
comes an  angel,  that  is,  comes  into  heaven,  unless 
he  carries  with  him  from  the  world  what  is  angelic  ; 
and  in  what  is  angelic  there  is  present  a  knowledge 
of  the  way  from  walking  in  it,  and  a  walking  in  the 
way  through  a  knowledge  of  it.  Moreover,  in  the 
spiritual  world  there  are  actually  ways  that  lead  to 
every  society  of  heaven  and  to  every  society  of 
hell ;  and  there  each  one  as  if  from  himself  sees  his 


66  THE  'DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

own  way.  He  sees  it  because  there  is  a  way  there 
for  every  love ;  and  the  love  reveals  the  way  and 
leads  one  to  his  fellows.  Other  ways  than  the  way 
of  his  love  no  one  sees.  From  this  it  is  clear  that 
angels  are  nothing  but  heavenly  loves,  for  other- 
wise they  would  not  have  seen  the  ways  leading  to 
heaven.  But  this  can  be  more  fully  seen  when 
heaven  is  described. 

61.  Every  man's  spirit  is  affection  and  thought 
therefrom  ;  and  as  every  affection  is  from  the  love 
and  every  thought  is  from  the  understanding,  every 
spirit  is  his  own  love,  and  his  own  understanding 
therefrom.  For  this  reason,  when  a  man  is  think- 
ing solely  from  his  own  spirit,  which  he  does  when 
meditating  at  home  by  himself,  he  thinks  from  the 
affection  which. belongs  to  his  love.  From  this  it  is 
clear  that  when  a  man  becomes  a  spirit,  as  he  does 
after  death,  he  is  an  affection  of  his  own  love,  and 
is  no  other  thought  than  what  belongs  to  his  affec- 
tion. He  is  an  evil  affection,  which  is  a  lust,  if  his 
love  has  been  a  love  of  evil ;  and  he  is  a  good  affec- 
tion if  his  love  has  be"en  a  love  of  good ;  and  every 
one  has  a  good  affection  so  far  as  he  has  shunned 
evils  as  sins ;  and  every  one  has  an  evil  affection  so 
far  as  he  has  not  so  shunned  them.  And  inasmuch 
as  all  spirits  and  angels  are  affections,  the  entire 
angelic  heaven  is  evidently  nothing  but  the  love  of 
all  affections  of  good,  and  the  consequent  wisdom 
of  all  perceptions  of  truth.  And  as  every  good  and 
truth  is  from  the  Lord,  and  the  Lord  is  love  itself 
and  wisdom  itself,  it  follows  that  the  angelic  heaven 


CHAPTER   111.,  N.  6j  67 

is  His  image.  And  as  the  Divine  love  and  the  Di- 
vine wisdom  in  their  form  are  Man,  it  also  follows 
that  the  angelic  heaven  cannot  be  otherwise  than  in 
such  a  form.  But  of  this  more  will  be  said  in  the 
following  chapter. 

62.  The  angelic  heaven  is  an  image  of  the  In- 
finite and  Eternal  because  it   is  an  image  of  the 
Lord,  and  the  Lord  is  the  Infinite  and  Eternal.     An 
image  of  His  Infinite  and  Eternal  is  manifest  in  this, 
that  heaven  is  made  up  of  myriads  of  myriads  of 
angels ;  and  that  it  is  made  up  of  as  many  societies 
as   there  are   general  affections   of  heavenly  love ; 
and  that  each  angel  in  each  society  is  distinctly  his 
own  affection ;  and  that  the  form  of  heaven,  which 
before  the  Lord  is  as  one,  just  as  a  man  is  one,  is 
from  so  great  a  number  of  affections  in  general  and 
in  particular;    and  that   this   form   is  perfected  to 
eternity  according  to  the  increase  of  numbers,  for  the 
greater  the  number  of  those  that  enter  into  the  form 
of  the  Divine  love,  which  is  the  form  of  forms,  the 
more  perfect  the  unity  becomes.     From  all  this  it  is 
very  clear  that  an  image  of  the  Infinite  and  Eternal 
is  presented  in  the  angelic  heaven. 

63.  From  the  idea   of  heaven    given   by  this 
brief  description  it  is  evident  that  it  is  an  affeclion 
from  the  love  of  good  that  makes  heaven  in  man. 
But  who  at  the  present  day  knows   this?      Who 
knows  even  what  the   affection  from   the  love    of 
good  is,  or  that  affections  from  the  love  of  good  are 
innumerable,   in   fact,   infinite?     For,    as  has   been 
said,   every  angel  is   distinctly  his   own   affection ; 
and  the  form  of  heaven  is  the  form  of  all  the  affec- 


68  THE  ^DIYINE  'PROVIDENCE 

tions  of  the  Divine  love  there.  To  unite  all  affec- 
tions into  this  form  is  possible  only  to  Him  who  is 
love  itself  and  also  wisdom  itself,  and  who  is  at  once 
Infinite  and  Eternal,  for  what  is  infinite  and  eternal 
is  in  every  thing  of  the  form,  the  infinite  in  the  con- 
junction and  the  eternal  in  the  perpetuity ;  and  if 
what  is  infinite  and  eternal  were  withdrawn  from  it 
it  would  dissolve  in  an  instant.  Who  else  can  com- 
bine affections  into  a  form?  Who  else  can  even 
unite  a  single  part  of  it?  For  a  single  part  can  be 
united  only  from  a  universal  idea  of  all,  and  the 
universal  of  all  only  from  a  particular  idea  of  each 
part.  That  form  is  composed  of  myriads  of  myr- 
iads ;  and  myriads  enter  it  each  year,  and  will  con- 
tinue to  enter  into  it  to  eternity.  All  children  enter 
into  it ;  and  as  many  adults  as  are  affeclions  from  a 
good  of  love.  From  all  this  again  an  image  of  the 
Infinite  and  Eternal  can  be  seen  in  the  angelic 
heaven. 

64.  (v.)  Looking  to  what  is  infinite  and  eter- 
nal in  the  formation  of  the  angelic  heaven,  that  it 
may  be  before  the  Lord  as  one  man,  which  is  an  im- 
age of  Himself,  is  the  inmost  of  the  Divine  provid- 
ence.— That  the  entire  heaven  is  as  one  man  before 
the  Lord  and  likewise  each  society  of  heaven,  and 
that  it  is  from  this  that  each  angel  is  a  man  in  com- 
plete form,  and  this  because  God  the  Creator,  who 
is  the  Lord  from  eternity,  is  Man,  may  be  seen  in  the 
work  on  Heaven  and  Hell  (n.  59-86)  ;  also,  that  in 
consequence  there  is  a  correspondence  of  all  things 


CHAPTER   111.,  N.  66  69 

of  heaven  with  all  things  of  man  (n.  87-102).  That 
the  entire  heaven  is  as  one  man  has  not  been  seen 
by  me ;  since  the  entire  heaven  can  be  seen  by  no 
one  except  the  Lord ;  but  that  an  entire  society  of 
heaven,  greater  or  smaller,  appears  as  one  man,  has 
several  times  been  seen  by  me  ;  and  it  was  then  said 
that  the  greatest  society,  which  is  heaven  in  its 
entire  aggregate,  so  appears,  but  only  before  the 
Lord ;  and  that  this  is  the  reason  why  every  angel 
is  in  complete  form  a  man. 

65.  As  in  the  Lord's  sight  the  entire  heaven  is 
as  one  man,  so  heaven  is  divided  into  as  many  gen- 
eral societies  as  there  are  organs,  viscera,  and  mem- 
bers in  a  man ;  and  each  general  society  is  divided 
into  as  many  less  general  or  particular  societies  as 
there  are  larger  divisions  in  each  of  the  viscera 
and  organs.  From  this  it  is  evident  what  heaven  is. 
And  since  the  Lord  is  the  very  Man,  and  heaven  is 
his  image,  to  be  in  heaven  is  called  being  in  the 
Lord.  That  the  Lord  is  the  very  Man  can  be  seen 
in  the  work  on  The  Divine  Love  and  the  Divine 
Wisdom  (n.  11-13,  285-289). 

6C>.  From  all  this  the  arcanum,  which  may  be 
called  angelic,  can  in  some  measure  be  seen,  namely, 
that  every  affection  for  good  and  at  the  same  time 
for  truth  is  in  its  form  a  man ;  for  whatever  goes 
forth  from  the  Lord,  by  its  derivation  from  His 
Divine  love  is  an  affection  for  good,  and  by  its 
derivation  from  His  Divine  wisdom  is  an  affection 
for  truth.  The  affection  for  truth  that  goes  forth 
from  the  Lord  appears  in  angel  and  in  man  as  a 


70  THE  ' DIVINE   TROYIDENCE 

perception  and  consequent  thought  of  truth,  for  the 
reason  that  attention  is  given  to  the  perception  and 
thought,  and  little  to  the  affection  from  which  these 
spring,  although  they  go  forth  from  the  Lord  as  one 
with  affection  for  truth. 

67.  Since,  then,  man  by  creation  is  a  heaven  in 
the  least  form,  and  consequently  an  image  of  the 
Lord,  and  since  heaven  consists  of  as  many  affec- 
tions as  there  are  angels,  and  each  affection  in  its 
form  is  a  man,  it  follows  that  it  is  the  continual  aim 
of  the  Divine  providence  that  man  may  become  a 
heaven  in  form  and  consequently  an  image  of  the 
Lord,  and  since  this  is  effected  by   means  of  the 
affection  for  good  and  truth,  that  he  may  become 
such  an  affection.     This,  therefore,  is  the  continual 
aim  of  the  Divine  providence.     But  its  inmost  is 
that  man  may  be  in  this  or  that  place  in  heaven,  or 
in  this  or  that  place  in  the  Divine  heavenly  man ; 
for  thus  is  he  in  the  Lord.     This  is  accomplished, 
however,  only  with  those  whom  the  Lord  can  lead 
to   heaven.     And  as   the    Lord   foresees   this,    He 
also   provides  continually   that  man   may  become 
such  ;  for  thereby  every  one  who  permits  himself  to 
be  led  to  heaven  is  prepared  for  his  own  place  in 
heaven. 

68.  It  has  been  said  above  that  heaven  is  di- 
vided  into  as  many  societies  as  there  are  organs, 
viscera,  and  members  in  a  man ;  and  in  these  no 
part  can  be  in  any  place  but  its  own.    Consequently 
as   angels  are  such  parts  of  the    Divine  heavenly 
Man,  and  none   become    angels   except   such    as 


CHAPTER  III.,  N.  69  71 

have  been  men  in  the  world,  it  follows  that  the  man 
who  permits  himself  to  be  led  to  heaven  is  contin- 
ually prepared  by  the  Lord  for  his  own  place ;  and 
this  is  done  by  means  of  such  an  affection  for  good 
and  truth  as  corresponds  with  it.  Moreover,  every 
angel- man  when  he  leaves  this  world  is  assigned  to 
his  place.  This  is  the  inmost  of  the  Divine  provid- 
ence respecting  heaven. 

69.  On  the  other  hand,  the  man  who  does  not 
permit  himself  to  be  led  to  heaven  and  assigned  is 
prepared  for  his  own  place  in  hell.  For  left  to  him- 
self man  tends  continually  to  the  lowest  part  of  hell, 
but  he  is  continually  withheld  by  the  Lord ;  and 
he  who  cannot  be  withheld  is  prepared  for  a  certain 
place  there,  to  which  also  he  is  assigned  immedi- 
ately after  he  leaves  this  world ;  and  this  place  there 
is  opposite  to  a  certain  place  in  heaven ;  for  hell  is 
the  opposite  of  heaven.  Therefore  as  the  angel- 
man,  according  to  his  affection  for  good  and  truth, 
is  allotted  his  own  place  in  heaven,  so  the  devil- 
man,  according  to  his  affection  for  evil  and  falsity, 
is  allotted  his  own  place  in  hell.  For  these  two 
opposites,  arranged  in  like  position  over  against 
each  other,  are  held  in  connection.  This  is  the  in- 
most of  the  Divine  providence  respecting  hell. 


IV. 


THERE  ARE  LAWS    OF    DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  THAT    ARE   UN- 
KNOWN TO  MEN. 


'THHAT  there  is  a  Divine  providence  is  known, 
X  but  what  it  is  is  not  known.  This  is  not 
known  because  the  laws  of  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence are  arcana  heretofore  concealed  in  the  wis- 
dom of  angels,  but  now  to  be  revealed,  that  what 
belongs  to  the  Lord  may  be  ascribed  to  Him,  and 
what  does  not  belong  to  man  may  not  be  ascribed 
to  any  man.  For  many  in  the  world  attribute  all 
things  to  themselves  and  their  own  prudence ;  or 
what  they  can  not  attribute  to  that  they  call  acci- 
dental or  casual,  not  knowing  that  human  prudence 
is  nothing,  and  that  accidental  and  casual  are  idle 
words. 

It  is  said  that  the  laws  of  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence are  arcana  heretofore  hidden  in  the  wis- 
dom of  angels.  This  is  because  in  the  Christian 
world  the  understanding,  for  religion's  sake,  has 
been  closed  in  respe<5t  to  Divine  things,  and  con- 
sequently it  has  become  in  such  things  so  obtuse 
and  resistant  that  man  has  not  been  able  because 
he  has  not  been  willing,  or  has  not  been  willing  be- 
cause he  has  not  been  able,  to  understand  anything 
more  about  the  Divine  providence  than  simply  that 


CHAPTER  /K.,  N.  70  73 

it  exists,  and  to  reason  whether  it  exists  or  not,  and 
also  whether  it  is  only  universal  or  also  particular. 
When  for  religion's  sake  the  understanding  is  closed 
in  respect  to  Divine  things  it  can  go  no  further 
than  this. 

But  since  there  has  been  in  the  church  an  ac- 
knowledgment that  man  is  unable  from  himself  to 
do  good  that  is  in  itself  good,  and  unable  from  him- 
self to  think  truth  that  is  in  itself  truth,  and  since 
these  are  one  with  the  Divine  providence  (because 
believing  the  one  depends  upon  believing  the  other), 
it  is  necessary,  lest  the  one  be  affirmed  and  the 
other  denied  and  thus  both  perish,  that  what  the 
Divine  providence  is  be  explicitly  revealed.  But 
this  cannot  be  revealed  unless  the  laws  by  which 
the  Lord  cares  for  and  rules  the  things  of  man's 
will  and  understanding  are  disclosed.  For  the  laws 
of  Divine  providence  are  what  make  known  its  na- 
ture ;  and  only  he  who  knows  its  nature  can  ac- 
knowledge it,  for  then  he  sees  it.  For  this  reason 
the  laws  of  Divine  providence,  heretofore  hidden  in 
the  wisdom  of  angels,  are  now  revealed. 


V. 


IT  IS  A  LAW  OF  THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  THAT  MAN  SHOULD 
ACT  FROM  FREEDOM   IN  ACCORDANCE  WITH   REASON. 

fgj 

EVERYONE  knows  that  man  has  the  freedom 
to  think  and  will  just  as  he  pleases,  but  not 
the  freedom  to  say  whatever  he  thinks,  or  to 
do  whatever  he  wills ;  therefore  the  freedom  that  is 
here  meant  is  spiritual  freedom,  and  not  natural 
freedom,  except  when  the  two  make  one.  For 
thinking  and  willing  are  spiritual,  but  speaking  and 
doing  are  natural.  Moreover,  these  are  clearly 
distinguished  in  man ;  for  a  man  is  able  to  think 
what  he  does  not  speak,  and  to  will  what  he  does 
not  do ;  which  makes  clear  that  the  spiritual  and 
the  natural  in  man  are  discriminated ;  consequently 
man  can  pass  from  one  to  the  other  only  througk 
a  boundary,  such  a  boundary  as  may  be  likened  to 
a  door  that  must  first  be  unfastened  and  opened. 
This  door  stands  open  as  it  were  in  those  who 
think  and  will  from  reason  in  accordance  with  the 
civil  laws  of  the  government  and  the  moral  laws  of 
society ;  for  such  say  what  they  think  and  do  as 
they  will ;  but  the  door  stands  shut  as  it  were  in 
those  who  think  and  will  in  opposition  to  those 
laws.  Whoever  attends  to  his  volitions  and  con- 
sequent aclions  will  notice  that  such  a  boundary 


CHAPTER  v.,  N.  72  75 

intervenes,  and  sometimes  frequently  in  a  single 
conversation  or  a  single  aclion.  This  has  been 
premised  to  make  clear  that  to  acl  from  freedom  in 
accordance  with  reason  means  to  think  and  will 
freely  and  thus  to  speak  and  do  freely  what  is  in 
accordance  with  reason. 

72.  But  as  few  are  aware  that  this  can  be  a 
law  of  Divine  providence,  for  the  reason  chiefly  that 
this  gives  a  man  freedom  also  to  think  evil  and  fals- 
ity, (although  the  Divine  providence  is  continually 
leading  him  to  think  and  will  what  is  good  and 
true,)  that  this  may  be  clearly  seen  the  subject  must 
be  considered  step  by  step,  which  shall  be  done  in 
the  following  order : 

(i.)  Man  possesses  reason  and  freedom,  or  ra- 
tionality and  liberty ;  and  these  two 
faculties  are  in  man  from  the  Lord. 
Whatever  a  man  does  from  freedom, wheth- 
er it  be  of  reason  or  not,  provided  it  is 
in  accordance  with  his  reason,  appears 
to  him  to  be  his. 

Whatever  a  man  does  from  freedom  in  ac- 
cordance with  his  thought  is  appropri- 
ated to  him  as  his,  and  remains. 

(iv.)  It  is  by  means  of  these  two  faculties  that 
man  is  reformed  and  regenerated  by 
the  Lord;  and  without  them  he  cannot 
be  reformed  and  regenerated. 
(v.)  By  means  of  these  two  faculties  man  can 
be  so  far  reformed  and  regenerated  as 
he  can  be  led  by  means  of  them  to  ac- 
knowledge that  every  thing  good  and 
true  that  he  thinks  and  does  is  from  the 
Lord,  and  not  from  himself. 

fvi.)   By  means  of  these  two  faculties  the  con- 


76  THE  THriNE  ^ROVIDENCE 


junction  of  the  Lord  'with  man  and  the 
reciprocal  conjunction  of  man  with  the 
Lord  are  effected. 

,      ...          ^7  T  J     J.  si  r  TV- 

(vn.)  The  Lord  preserves  these  two  faculties  in 
man  unharmed  and  as  sacred  in  the 
whole  course  of  His  Divine  providence. 
(viii.)  Therefore  it  is  \a  law]  of  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence that  man  should  aft  from  free- 
dom in  accordance  wjth  reason. 

73.  (i.)  Man  possesses  reason  and  freedom,  or 
rationality  and  liberty,  and  these  two  faculties  are 
in  man  from  the  Lord.  —  That  man  has  the  faculty 
of  understanding  which  is  rationality,  and  the  fac- 
ulty of  thinking,  willing,  speaking  and  doing  what 
he  understands,  which  is  liberty,  and  that  these 
two  faculties  are  in  man  from  the  Lord,  has  been 
treated  of-  in  the  work  on  The  Divine  Love  and 
the  Divine  Wisdom  (n.  264-270,  425  ;  also  above,  n. 
43,  44).  But  as  many  doubts  may  arise  respecting 
either  of  these  when-  they  are  made  a  subject  of 
thought,  at  the  outset  I  will  merely  advance  some- 
thing respecting  the  freedom  to  acl  in  accordance 
with  reason  that  is  in  man. 

First,  however,  it  must  be  seen  that  all  freedom 
is  a  property  of  love,  insomuch  that  love  and  free- 
dom are  one.  And  as  love  is  the  life  of  man,  free- 
dom also  belongs  to  his  life.  For  every  enjoyment 
that  man  has  is  from  his  love  ;  no  enjoyment  is  pos- 
sible from  any  other  source;  and  acling  from  love's 
enjoyment  is  acling  from  freedom  ;  for  a  man  is 
led  by  enjoyment  as  a  thing  is  borne  along  by  the 
current  of  a  river.  Since,  then,  there  are  many 


CHAPTER   V.,  N.  7}  77 

loves,  some  harmonious  and  some  discordant,  it  fol- 
lows that  there  are  likewise  many  kinds  of  freedom  ; 
but  in  general  three,  natural,  rational,  and  spirit 
ual. 

Natural  freedom  every  one  has  by  inheritance. 
From,  it  man  loves  nothing  but  self  and  the  world  ; 
his  first  life  is  nothing  else.  And  as  from  these 
two  loves  all  evils  spring,  and  thus  it  comes  that 
evils  belong  to  the  love,  it  follows  that  thinking 
and  willing  evils  is  man's  natural  freedom  ;  and 
when  he  has  confirmed  evils  in  himself  by  reason- 
ings he  does  evils  from  freedom  in  accordance  with 
his  reason.  Thus  his  doing  evils  is  from  his  fac- 
ulty that  is  called  liberty ;  and  his  confirming  them 
is  from  his  faculty  that  is  called  rationality. 

A  man's  desire,  for  example,  to  commit  adultery, 
to  defraud,  to  blaspheme,  to  take  revenge,  is  from 
the  love  into  which  he  is  born ;  and  when  he  con- 
firms these  evils  in  himself,  and  thereby  makes 
them  allowable,  then,  from  the  enjoyment  of  the 
love  of  them,  he  as  it  were  freely  in  accordance 
with  reason  thinks  and  wills  them,  and,  so  far  as 
civil  laws  do  not  prevent,  speaks  and  acls  accord- 
ingly. It  is  from  the  Lord's  Divine  providence  that 
man  is  permitted  to  do  this,  because  he  has  free- 
dom or  liberty.  Man  is  in  this  kind  of  freedom  by 
nature,  because  by  inheritance  ;  and  all  those  are 
in  it  who  by  means  of  reasonings  have  confirmed 
it  in  themselves  from  the  enjoyment  of  the  love  of 
self  and  the  world. 

Rational  freedom  is  from  the  love  of  reputation 


78  THE  'DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

with  a  view  to  honor  or  gain.  The  enjoyment  of 
this  love  lies  in  appearing  externally  as  a  moral 
man;  and  because  man  loves  such  a  reputation, 
he  does  not  defraud,  commit  adultery,  take  revenge, 
or  blaspheme ;  and  because  he  makes  this  a  mat- 
ter of  reason,  he  acls  from  freedom  in  accordance 
with  his  reason  in  sincere,  just,  chaste,  and  friendly 
ways;  and  furthermore,  from  his  reason  he  can 
advocate  such  conduct.  But  if  his  rational  is  merely 
natural  and  not  spiritual,  such  freedom  is  merely  ex- 
ternal freedom,  not  internal  freedom  ;  for  he  does 
not  love  these  goods  in  the  least  inwardly,  but  only 
outwardly  for  the  sake  of  his  reputation,  as  has  been 
said,  and  for  this  reason  the  good  deeds  that  he 
does  are  not  in  themselves  good.  He  may  even 
assert  that  these  things  ought  to  be  done  for  the 
public  welfare ;  but  this  he  says  not  from  any  love 
for  the  public  welfare,  but  from  a  love  for  his  own 
honor  or  gain.  His  freedom,  therefore,  derives 
nothing  from  a  love  for  the  public  welfare,  neither 
does  his  reason,  since  this  assents  to  his  love.  Con- 
sequently, this  rational  freedom  is  a  more  internal 
natural  freedom.  This  freedom,  too,  by  the  Lord's 
Divine  providence  remains  with  every  one. 

Spiritual  freedom  is  from  a  love  for  eternal  life. 
Into  that  love  and  its  enjoyment  no  one  comes  ex- 
cept he  that  thinks  evils  to  be  sins  and  in  conse- 
quence does  not  will  them,  and  at  the  same  time 
looks  to  the  Lord.  As  soon  as  one  does  this  he  is 
in  that  freedom.  For  one's  ability  not  to  will  evils 
because  they  are  sins,  and  not  to  do  them  for  that 


CHAPTER   V.,  N.  74  79 

reason,  comes  from  the  more  internal  or  higher  free- 
dom, which  is  from  his  more  internal  or  higher 
love.  At  first  such  a  freedom  does  not  seem  to  be 
freedom,  and  yet  it  is ;  and  afterwards  it  so  appears, 
and  then  man  acls  from  freedom  itself,  in  accord- 
ance with  reason  itself,  in  thinking,  willing,  speak- 
ing, and  doing  what  is  good  and  true.  This  free- 
dom increases  as  natural  freedom  decreases  and 
becomes  subservient ;  and  it  conjoins  itself  with  ra- 
tional freedom  and  purifies  it. 

Any  one  may  come  into  this  freedom  if  he  is 
but  willing  to  think  that  life  is  eternal,  and  that  the 
temporary  enjoyment  and  bliss  of  life  in  time  are 
but  as  a  fleeting  shadow,  compared  with  the  nev- 
er-ending enjoyment  and  bliss  of  a  life  in  eternity ; 
and  this  a  man  can  think  if  he  wishes,  because  he 
has  rationality  and  liberty,  and  because  the  Lord, 
from  whom  these  two  faculties  are  derived,  contin- 
ually gives  the  ability. 

74.  (ii.)  Whatever  a  man  does  from  freedom, 
whether  it  be  of  reason  or  not,  provided  it  is  in 
accordance  with  his  reason,  appears  to  him  to  be 
his. — What  rationality  and  liberty,  which  are  pecu- 
liar to  man,  are,  can  be  most  clearly  understood  by 
a  comparison  of  man  with  beasts.  For  beasts  have 
no  rationality  or  ability  to  understand,  and  no  lib- 
erty or  ability  to  will  freely  ;  consequently  they  have 
no  understanding  or  will,  but  in  place  of  under- 
standing they  have  knowledge,  and  in  place  of  will 
they  have  affection,  both  of  which  are  natural.  And 


80  THE  TiiyiNE  TROt'IDEMCE 

as  they  do  not  possess  these  two  faculties,  they 
have  no  thought ;  but  in  place  of  thought  they  have 
an  internal  sight  which  makes  one  by  correspond- 
ence with  their  external  sight. 

Every  affection  has  its  mate,  which  is  like  a 
spouse  ;  affection  from  natural  love  has  knowledge, 
affection  from  spiritual  love  understanding,  and  affec- 
tion from  celestial  love  wisdom.  For  an  affection 
without  its  mate  as  a  spouse  is  not  any  thing  ;  it  is  as 
being  (esse)  without  coming  forth  (existere],  or  as  sub- 
stance without  form,  of  which  nothing  can  be  predi- 
cated. Therefore,  in  every  thing  created  there  is 
something  that  is  referable  to  the  marriage  of  good 
and  truth,  as  has  been  shown  above  in  many  places. 
In  beasts  there  is  a  marriage  of  affection  and  know- 
ledge, the  affection  in  them  pertaining  to  natural 
good,  and  knowledge  to  natural  truth. 

Since,  then,  affection  and  knowledge  in  beasts 
act  completely  as  one,  and  their  affection  cannot 
be  raised  above  their  knowledge  nor  their  know- 
ledge above  their  affection,  but  whenever  raised  are 
both  raised  together,  and  since  they  have  no  spir- 
itual mind,  into  which,  or  into  the  light  and  heat 
of  which,  they  can  be  raised,  therefore  they  have 
no  capacity  to  understand,  that  is,  rationality,  and 
no  capacity  to  will  freely,  that  is,  liberty ;  they  have 
merely  natural  affection  with  its  knowledge.  The 
natural  affection  that  they  possess  is  an  affection 
for  providing  themselves  food,  shelter,  and  off- 
spring, and  for  escaping  or  avoiding  injury,  with  all 
requisite  knowledge  of  these  things.  Such  being 


CHAPTER    V.,  N.  75  81 

the  state  of  their  life  they  have  no  ability  to  think, 
This  I  wish  or  do  not  wish ;  This  I  know  or  do 
not  know  ;  or  still  less,  This  I  understand,  and  this 
I  Jove;  but  from  their  affection  by  means  of  their 
knowledge  they  are  borne  along  without  rationality 
or  liberty.  They  are  so  borne  along,  not  from  the 
natural  world,  but  from  the  spiritual.  For  there  is 
nothing  in  the  natural  world  unconnected  with  the 
spiritual  world.  From  that  world  is  every  cause 
that  produces  an  effect.  Something  on  this  sub- 
ject may  be  seen  below  (n.  96). 

75  •  With  man  it  is  otherwise.  He  has  not 
only  affection  from  natural  love,  but  also  affection 
from  spiritual  love,  and  affection  from  celestial  love. 
For  the  human  mind  is  of  three  degrees,  as  shown 
in  Part  Third  of  the  work  on  The  Divine  Love  and 
the  Divine  Wisdom.  Consequently  a  man  can  be 
raised  up  from  natural  knowledge  into  spiritual 
understanding  and  from  that  into  celestial  wisdom  ; 
and  from  these  two,  understanding  and  wisdom,  he 
can  look  to  the  Lord,  and  thus  be  conjoined  with 
Him,  whereby  he  lives  forever.  But  this  exaltation 
in  respect  to  affection  would  not  be  possible,  un- 
less man  had  from  rationality  an  ability  to  raise  the 
understanding,  and  from  liberty  an  ability  to  will 
to  do  it. 

By  means  of  these  two  faculties  man  has  the 
ability  to  reflect  within  himself  upon  those  things 
that  he  perceives  outside  of  himself  by  means  of 
the  bodily  senses.  He  also  has  the  ability  to  think 
above  about  what  he  is  thinking  below.  For  one 


82  THE  <D/K/N£  'PROVIDENCE 

can  say ,  This  I  have  thought  and  this  I  now  think  ; 
also,  This  I  have  willed  and  this  I  now  will ;  or 
again,  This  I  understand  to  be  true,  this  I  love 
because  it  is  such  ;  and  so  on.  From  this  it  is  clear 
that  man  thinks  above  thought,  seeing  it  as  if  be- 
neath him.  This  ability  man  has  from  rationality 
and  from  liberty,  from  rationality  this  capacity  for 
higher  thought,  from  liberty  the  capacity  to  will 
from  affeclion  to  so  think.  For  without  the  liberty 
so  to  think  he  would  not  have  the  will,  and  conse- 
quently not  the  thought. 

For  this  reason  those  that  have  no  wish  to  un- 
derstand any  thing  except  what  pertains  to  the 
world  and  its  nature,  and  no  wish  to  understand 
what  moral  and  spiritual  good  and  truth  are,  can 
not  be  raised  from  knowledge  into  understanding, 
still  less  into  wisdom ;  for  they  have  closed  up 
these  capacities,  and  therefore  make  themselves  to 
be  men  no  further  than  having  an  ability  to  under- 
stand, if  they  will,  and  an  ability  to  so  will,  from  the 
rationality  and  liberty  implanted  in  them.  From 
these  two  faculties  man  is  able  to  think,  and  to 
speak  from  thought ;  in  all  other  things  men  are 
not  men  but  beasts ;  and  some,  from  the  abuse  of 
these  faculties,  are  worse  than  beasts. 

76.  From  an  unobscured  rationality  any  one 
can  see  or  comprehend  that  it  is  only  from  an  ap- 
pearance that  it  is  his  that  man  can  be  in  any  affec- 
tion for  knowing,  or  in  any  affeclion  for  understand- 
ing. For  every  enjoyment  and  pleasure,  and  there- 
fore every  thing  of  the  will,  is  from  affeclion,  which 


CHAPTER    V.,  N.  j6  83 

belongs  to  love.  Who  can  wish  to  know  any  thing 
or  to  understand  any  thing,  unless  he  has  some 
pleasure  from  affection  ?  And  who  can  possess  this 
pleasure  of  affection  unless  that  which  moves  the 
affection  appears  to  be  his?  If  nothing  were  his, 
but  everything  another's,  in  other  words,  if  any  one 
from  his  own  affections  should  pour  something  into 
the  mind  of  another  who  had  no  affeclion  for  know- 
ing and  understanding  as  if  from  himself,  would  the 
other  receive  it,  or  even  possess  the  ability  to  re- 
ceive it?  Would  he  not  be  like  what  is  called  a 
dullard  and  a  stock? 

From  this  it  is  clearly  evident  that  although 
every  thing  that  man  perceives,  and  thinks  and 
knows  therefrom,  and  wills  and  does  in  accord  with 
the  perception,  flows  into  him ;  nevertheless,  it  is 
made  by  the  Lord's  Divine  providence  to  appear  to 
be  man's ;  for  otherwise,  as  has  been  said,  the  man 
could  receive  nothing,  and  therefore  he  could  be 
endowed  with  no  understanding  or  wisdom.  It  is 
acknowledged  that  every  thing  good  and  true  is 
the  Lord's  and  not  man's,  and  yet  that  it  appears 
to  man  to  be  his ;  and  because  every  thing  good 
and  true  so  appears,  all  things  of  the  church  and 
of  heaven,  consequently  all  things  of  love  and  wis- 
dom, and  of  charity  and  faith,  so  appear,  and  yet 
nothing  of  these  is  man's.  Unless  it  is  made  to  ap- 
pear to  man  that  he  perceives  these  things  as  if 
from  himself  he  has  no  ability  to  receive  them  from 
the  Lord.  From  all  this  the  truth  of  the  matter 
can  be  seen,  namely,  that  whatever  one  does  from 


84  THE  <D/F/N£  VROWDENCE 

freedom,  whether  it  be  of  reason  or  not,  provided 
it  is  in  accordance  with  his  reason,  appears  to  him 
to  be  his. 

77.  With  his  faculty  called  rationality  who  is 
not  able  to  understand  that  this  or  that  good  is 
useful  to  society,  and  that  this  or  that  evil  is  harm- 
ful to  it;  for  example,  that  justice,  sincerity,  and 
the  chastity  of  marriage,  are  useful  to  society,  and 
that  injustice,  insincerity,  and  adulterous  relations 
with  the  wives  of  others,  are  harmful  to  it ;  conse- 
quently, that  these  evils  in  themselves  are  injuries, 
and  that  the  goods  in  themselves  are  benefits  ? 
Who,  therefore,  is  not  able,  if  he  will,  to  make  these 
distinctions  matters  of  reason?  He  has  rationality, 
and  he  has  liberty ;  and  so  far  as  he,  for  these  rea- 
sons, shuns  these  evils  in  himself,  are  his  rationality 
and  liberty  uncovered  and  made  manifest,  and  so  far 
do  they  regulate,  and  give  perception  and  ability ; 
and  so  far  as  this  is  done  man  looks  to  these  goods 
as  a  friend  looks  to  his  friends. 

From  all  this  man  is  able  afterwards  from  his 
faculty  which  is  called  rationality  to  draw  conclu- 
sions about  such  goods  as  are  useful  to  society  in 
the  spiritual  world,  and  about  the  evils  that  are 
harmful  there,  if  in  place  of  evils  he  understands 
sins,  and  in  place  of  goods  works  of  charity.  This 
a  man  is  able,  if  he  will,  to  make  a  matter  of  his 
reason,  since  he  has  rationality  and  liberty.  And  so 
far  as  he  shuns  these  evils  as  sins  are  his  rationality 
and  liberty  uncovered  and  made  manifest,  and  so 
far  they  regulate  and  give  perception  and  ability; 


CHAPTER  V.,  N.  -j8  85 

and  so  far  as  this  is  done,  he  looks  to  the  goods  of 
charity  as  neighbor  looks  to  neighbor,  from  mutual 
love. 

Since,  then,  it  is  the  Lord's  will,  for  the  sake  ot 
reception  and  conjunction,  that  whatever  a  man 
does  freely  in  accordance  with  reason  should  appear 
to  him  to  be  his,  and  this  is  in  accordance  with 
reason  itself,  it  follows  that  man  is  able  from  his 
reason  to  will  this  on  the  ground  that  it  constitutes 
his  eternal  happiness ;  and  by  the  Lord's  Divine 
power,  when  it  is  invoked,  is  able  to  do  it. 

78.  (iii.)  Whatever  a  man  does  from  freedom 
in  accordance  with  his  thought  is  appropriated  to 
him  as  his  and  remains. — This  is  because  man's 
own  (proprium)  and  his  freedom  make  one.  Man's 
own  belongs  to  his  life ;  and  what  a  man  does  from 
his  life  he  does  from  freedom.  Again,  man's  own 
belongs  to  his  love,  for  every  one's  life  is  his  love  ; 
and  what  a  man  does  from  his  life's  love  he  does 
from  freedom.  From  his  freedom  man  acls  in  ac- 
cordance with  his  thought,  for  the  reason  that 
whatever  belongs  to  one's  life  or  love  becomes  a 
subject  of  thought  and  is  confirmed  by  his  thought ; 
and  when  it  has  been  confirmed  he  does  it  from 
freedom  in  accordance  with  his  thought. 

For  whatever  a  man  does  he  does  from  the  will 
by  means  of  the  understanding ;  and  freedom  be- 
longs to  the  will,  and  thought  to  the  understanding. 
Moreover,  from  freedom  man  is  able  to  act  contrary 
to  reason,  also  to  acl:  in  accordance  with  reason  and 


86  THE  TtlVlNE  PROVIDENCE 

not  from  freedom  ;  but  what  is  so  done  is  not  ap- 
propriated to  the  man  ;  it  belongs  merely  to  his 
lips  and  body,  not  to  his  spirit  and  heart.  But 
whatever  is  from  his  spirit  and  heart,  when  it 
comes  to  be  also  of  the  lips  and  body,  is  appro- 
priated to  him.  That  this  is  so  could  be  shown 
by  many  illustrations ;  but  this  is  not  the  place  for 
them. 

To  be  appropriated  to  man  means  to  enter  in- 
to his  life,  and  to  become  a  part  of  his  life,  conse- 
quently to  become  his  own.  Yet  there  is  nothing, 
as  will  be  shown  in  what  follows,  that  is  man's  own, 
it  merely  seems  to  him  as  if  it  were.  Here  it  needs 
only  to  be  said  that  every  good  that  a  man  does 
from  freedom  in  accordance  with  reason  is  appro- 
priated to  him  as  his,  because  in  the  thinking,  the 
willing,  the  speaking,  and  the  doing,  it  appears  to 
him  to  be  his  ;  nevertheless,  the  good  is  not  man's 
but  the  Lord's  in  man  (as  may  be  seen  above,  n. 
76).  How  evil  is  appropriated  to  man  will  be  seen 
in  the  proper  place. 

79.  It  is  also  said  that  whatever  one  does  from 
freedom  in  accordance  with  his  thought  remains, 
since  nothing  that  a  man  has  appropriated  to  him- 
self can  be  eradicated ;  for  it  has  come  to  be  of 
his  love  and  at  the  same  time  of  his  reason,  or  of 
his  will  and  at  the  same  time  of  his  understanding, 
and  consequently  of  his  life.  It  can  be  removed, 
but  it  cannot  be  eliminated ;  and  when  removed 
it  is  as  it  were  transferred  from  the  centre  to  the 


CHAPTER    V.,  N.  79  87 

circumference,  and  there  it  stays.  This  is  what  is 
meant  by  its  remaining. 

For  instance,  if  a  man  in  his  boyhood  and  youth 
has  appropriated  to  himself  a  certain  evil  by  do- 
ing it  from  the  enjoyment  of  his  love,  like  fraud 
or  blasphemy  or  revenge  or  fornication,  as  these 
things  have  been  done  from  freedom  in  accordance 
with  his  thought  he  has  appropriated  them  to  him- 
self; but  if  he  afterwards  repents  of.  them,  shuns 
them,  and  looks  upon  them  as  sins  that  must  be 
hated,  and  thus  refrains  from  them  from  freedom 
in  accordance  with  reason,  then  the  good  things  to 
which  those  evils  are  opposed  are  appropriated  to 
him.  These  goods  then  constitute  the  centre  and 
remove  the  evils  towards  the  circumferences  further 
and  further,  to  the  extent  that  he  loathes  and  turns 
away  from  them.  Nevertheless,  they  cannot  be  so 
cast  out  as  to  be  said  to  be  extirpated,  although  by 
such  removal  they  may  appear  to  be  extirpated, 
which  is  effected  by  man's  being  withheld  from  evils 
and  held  in  goods  by  the  Lord.  This  is  true  both 
of  all  man's  inherited  evil  and  of  all  his  actual 
evil. 

Moreover,  I  have  seen  this  proved  by  experi- 
ence with  some  in  heaven  who  thought  themselves 
to  be  free  from  all  evil,  because  they  were  held  in 
good  by  the  Lord.  But  lest  these  should  believe 
the  good  in  which  they  were  to  be  their  own,  they 
were  let  down  from  heaven  and  again  let  into  their 
evils,  until  they  acknowledged  that  from  themselves 
they  were  in  evils,  and  were  in  goods  only  from  the 


88  THE  "DiyiNE  'PROVIDENCE 


Lord.  After  this  acknowledgment  they  were  led 
back  into  heaven. 

Let  it  be  understood,  therefore,  that  these  goods 
are  appropriated  to  man  only  in  the  sense  that  they 
are  always  the  Lord's  in  man  ;  and  that  so  far  as 
man  acknowledges  this  the  Lord  grants  that  the 
good  may  appear  to  man  to  be  his,  that  is,  that  it 
may  appear  to  man  that  he  loves  the  neighbor  or 
has  charity  as  if  it  were  from  himself,  that  he  be- 
lieves or  has  faith  as  if  it  were  from  himself,  that  he 
does  good  and  understands  truths  and  thus  is  wise 
as  if  it  were  from  himself.  From  all  this  any  one 
who  is  enlightened  can  see  the  nature  and  strength 
of  the  appearance  in  which  the  Lord  wills  man  to 
be  ;  and  this  the  Lord  wills  for  the  sake  of  man's 
salvation  ;  for  without  this  appearance  no  one  could 
be  saved.  On  this  subject  see  what  has  been 
shown  above  (n.  42-45). 

80.  Nothing  that  a  man  merely  thinks,  nor 
even  that  which  he  thinks  to  will,  is  appropriated  to 
him,  unless  at  the  same  time  he  so  far  wills  it  as  to 
do  it  if  opportunity  offers.  This  is  because  when 
•man  so  does  anything  he  does  it  from  the  will 
through  the  understanding,  or  from  the  affeclion 
of  the  will  through  the  thought  of  the  understand- 
ing ;  but  so  long  as  it  is  a  matter  of  thought  alone 
it  cannot  be  appropriated,  because  the  understand- 
ing does  not  then  conjoin  itself  with  the  will,  or  the 
thought  of  the  understanding  with  the  affeclion  of 
the  will,  but  the  will  with  its  affeclion  conjoins  itself 
with  the  understanding  and  its  thought,  as  has  been 


CHAPTER   V.,  N.  82  89 

shown  in  many  places  in  Part  Fifth  of  the  work  on 
The  Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom.  This 
is  meant  by  the  words  of  the  Lord : 

"  Not  that  which  entereth  into  the  mouth  maketh  the  man 
unclean  ;  but  that  which  goeth  out  of  the  heart  through 
the  mouth,  this  maketh  the  man  unclean  "  (Matt.  xv. 
II  ;  also  17,  18,  19). 

In  the  spiritual  sense  "the  mouth"  means  thought, 
because  thought  speaks  by  means  of  the  mouth ; 
while  "the  heart"  means  in  that  sense  affection 
which  belongs  to  the  love.  When  a  man  thinks 
and  speaks  from  that  affection  he  makes  himself  un- 
clean. Again  in  Luke  (vi.  45),  "the  heart"  signifies 
affection  which  pertains  to  the  love  or  will,  and 
"the  mouth"  signifies  thought  which  pertains  to  the 
understanding. 

81.  Again,  such  evils  as  a  man  believes  to  be 
allowable,  even  though  he  does  not  do  them,  are 
appropriated  to  him  ;  since  whatever  is  made  allow- 
able in  the  thought  comes  from  the  will,  for  there 
is  then  consent.     When,  therefore,  a  man  believes 
any  evil  to  be  allowable,  he  releases  it  from  internal 
restraint ;  and  is  withheld  from  doing  it  only  by  ex- 
ternal restraints,  which  are  fears.     And  because  his 
spirit  then  favors  that  evil,  whenever  external  re- 
straints are  removed  he  does  it  as  allowable,  and 
in  the  mean  time  continually  does  it  in  his  spirit. 
But  respecting  this  see  the  DoElrine  of  Life  for  the 
New  Jerusalem  (n.  108-1 13). 

82.  (iv.)  It  is  by  means  of  these  two  faculties 


90  THE  'DIVINE  TROWDENCE 

that  man  is  reformed  and  regenerated  by  the  Lord; 
and  without  them  he  cannot  be  reformed  and  regen- 
erated.— The  Lord  teaches  that 

Except  a  man  be  born  again  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom 
of  God  {John  iii.  3,  5,  7). 

But  very  few  have  known  what  it  is  to  be  born 
again  or  regenerated,  for  the  reason  that  it  has  not 
been  known  what  love  and  charity  are,  nor,  there- 
fore, what  faith  is ;  for  if  one  does  not  know  what 
love  and  charity  are  he  cannot  know  what  faith  is, 
since  charity  and  faith  make  one,  like  good  and 
truth,  and  like  affection  which  belongs  to  the  will 
and  thought  which  belongs  to  the  understanding. 
Respecting  this  union,  see  the  work  on  The  Di- 
vine Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom  (n.  427-431); 
also  The  DoElrine  of  the  New  Jerusalem  (n.  13-24)  ; 
and  above  (n.  3-20). 

83.  No  one  can  come  into  the  kingdom  of 
God  unless  he  has  been  born  again,  for  the  reason 
that  man  by  inheritance  from  his  parents  is  born 
into  evils  of  every  kind,  but  with  an  ability  to  be- 
come spiritual  by  the  removal  of  those  evils ;  and 
unless  he  becomes  spiritual  he  cannot  come  into 
heaven.  From  being  natural  to  become  spiritual  is 
to  be  born  again  or  regenerated.  But  to  under- 
stand how  man  is  regenerated  these  three  things 
must  be  considered  :  what  his  first  state  is,  which 
is  a  state  of  damnation  ;  what  his  second  state  is, 
which  is  a  state  of  reformation  ;  and  what  his  third 
state  is,  which  is  a  state  of  regeneration. 


CHAPTER    V.,N.  8j  91 

Man's  first  state  >  which  is  a  state  of  damnation, 
every  one  has  by  inheritance  from  his  parents ;  for 
man  is  thereby  born  into  the  love  of  self  and  love 
of  the  world,  and  from  these,  as  fountains,  into  evils 
of  every  kind.  It  is  by  the  enjoyments  of  these 
loves  that  he  is  led ;  and  these  enjoyments  cause 
him  not  to  know  that  he  is  in  evils ;  for  no  enjoy- 
ment of  a  love  is  felt  otherwise  than  as  a  good; 
consequently  unless  a  man  is  regenerated  he  knows 
no  otherwise  than  that  to  love  himself  and  the 
world  above  all  things  is  goodness  itself;  and  to 
rule  over  all  and  to  possess  the  wealth  of  all  is 
the  highest  good.  Moreover,  this  is  the  source  of 
all  evil ;  for  a  man  then  from  love  looks  to  no  one 
but  himself;  or  if  from  love  he  looks  to  another  it 
is  as  a  devil  looks  to  a  devil,  or  a  thief  to  a  thief, 
when  they  act  together. 

Those  who,  from  the  enjoyment  of  these  loves 
confirm  in  themselves  these  loves  and  the  evils 
flowing  from  them,  remain  natural  and  become 
corporeal-sensual,  and  in  their  own  thought,  which 
is  the  thought  of  their  spirit,  are  insane.  Never- 
theless, while  they  remain  in  the  world  they  are 
able  to  speak  and  acl:  rationally  and  wisely,  be- 
cause they  are  men  and  in  consequence  possess 
rationality  and  liberty ;  but  even  this  they  do  from 
love  of  self  and  the  world.  After  death,  when  they 
become  spirits,  they  are  incapable  of  any  other  en- 
joyment than  that  which  they  had  in  spirit  while  in 
the  world ;  and  that  enjoyment  is  the  enjoyment 
of  infernal  love,  which  is  then  turned  into  what  is 


92  THE  'DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

undelightful,  painful,  and  terrible  ;  and  this  is  what 
is  meant  in  the  Word  by  torment  and  hell-fire.  All 
this  makes  clear  that  man's  first  state  is  a  state  of 
damnation,  and  that  those  are  in  it  who  do  not 
permit  themselves  to  be  regenerated. 

Man's  second  state,  which  is  the  state  of  reform- 
ation, is  that  in  which  he  begins  to  think  about 
heaven  with  reference  to  the  joy  of  heaven,  and 
from  this  about  God,  who  is  to  him  the  source  of 
heavenly  joy.  But  at  first  this  thought  springs 
from  the  enjoyment  of  love  of  self,  which  enjoy- 
ment is  to  him  heavenly  joy.  And  as  long  as  he 
is  ruled  by  the  enjoyment  of  that  love,  together 
with  the  enjoyments  of  the  evils  that  flow  from  it,  he 
must  needs  think  that  he  draws  near  to  heaven  by 
pouring  out  prayers,  listening  to  preachings,  going 
to  the  Holy  Supper,  giving  to  the  poor,  helping  the 
needy,  spending  money  on  churches,  contributing 
to  hospitals,  and  so  on.  A  man  in  this  state  knows 
no  otherwise  than  that  he  is  saved  by  mere  thought 
about  those  things  that  religion  teaches,  and  that 
this  is  either  what  is  called  faith,  or  what  is  called 
faith  and  charity.  He  has  no  other  idea  than  that 
he  is  saved  by  so  thinking,  because  he  gives  no 
thought  to  the  evils  that  he  finds  enjoyment  in, 
and  as  long  as  their  enjoyments  remain  the  evils 
remain.  The  enjoyments  of  evil  are  from  lust  for 
them  that  continually  inspires  them,  and  when  no 
fear  prevents,  brings  them  forth. 

So  long  as  evils  continue  in  the  lusts  of  their 
love,  and  the  consequent  enjoyments,  there  is  no 


CHAPTER   V.,  N.  8}  95 

faith,  charity,  piety  or  worship  except  in  mere  ex- 
ternals, which  to  the  world  seem  real,  and  yet  are 
not.  These  may  be  compared  to  water  issuing 
from  an  impure  fountain,  which  no  one  can  drink. 
Man  continues  in  the  first  state  as  long  as  he  thinks 
from  religion  about  heaven  and  about  God,  and  yet 
gives  no  thought  to  evils  as  sins  ;  and  he  comes  into 
the  second  state,  or  the  state  of  reformation,  when 
he  begins  to  think  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as 
sin ;  and  still  more  when  he  thinks  that  this  or  that 
is  a  sin,  and  when  he  examines  it  in  himself  to  some 
extent  and  refrains  from  willing  it. 

Mans  third  state,  which  is  a  state  of  regener- 
ation, takes  up  and  continues  the  former  state.  It 
begins  when  man  refrains  from  evils  as  sins,  and 
it  progresses  as  he  shuns  them,  and  is  perfected 
as  he  fights  against  them  ;  and  as  he  from  the 
Lord  conquers  them  he  is  regenerated.  With  one 
who  is  regenerated  the  order  of  life  is  reversed ; 
from  beuig  natural  he  becomes  spiritual ;  for  when 
the  natural  is  separated  from  the  spiritual  it"  is 
contrary  to  order,  while  the  spiritual  is  in  harmony 
with  order.  Consequently  the  regenerate  man  a6ls 
from  charity ;  and  whatever  belongs  to  his  charity  he 
makes  to  be  of  his  faith  also.  Yet  he  becomes  spir- 
itual only  so  far  as  he  is  in  truths  ;  for  man  is  regen- 
erated only  by  means  of  truths  and  a  life  in  accord- 
ance with  them ;  for  by  means  of  truths  he  knows 
what  life  is,  and  by  means  of  the  life  he  does  the 
truths,  and  thus  he  conjoins  good  and  truth,  which  is 
the  spiritual  marriage  in  which  heaven  is. 


94  THE  'DIVINE  TROVIDENCE 

85.  By  means  of  these  two  faculties,  called  ra- 
tionality and  liberty,  man  is  reformed  and  regen- 
erated, and  without  them  he  cannot  be  reformed 
and  regenerated,  for  it  is  by  means  of  rationality 
that  he  is  able  to  understand  and  know  what  is  evil 
and  what  is  good,  and  thus  what  is  false  and  what 
is  true ;  and  it  is  by  means  of  liberty  that  he  is  able 
to  will  what  he  understands  and  knows.  But  so 
long  as  enjoyment  from  the  love  of  evil  rules  he 
is  not  able  to  will  freely  what  is  good  and  true  and 
to  make  these  to  be  of  his  reason,  and  cannot  there- 
fore appropriate  them  to  himself.  For,  as  shown 
above,  it  is  that  which  a  man  does  from  freedom  in 
accordance  with  reason  that  is  appropriated  to  him 
as  his  ;  and  unless  good  and  truth  are  appropriated 
as  his,  man  is  not  reformed  and  regenerated.  Again, 
man  does  not  acl  from  an  enjoyment  of  the  love 
of  good  and  truth  until  the  enjoyment  from  the 
love  of  evil  and  falsity  has  been  removed ;  for  two 
kinds  of  enjoyment  from  love  that  are  apposites 
are 'not  possible  at  the  same  time.  Acting  from  an 
enjoyment  of  love  is  acting  from  freedom  ;  and 
since  reason  favors  the  love,  this  is  also  acting  in 
accordance  with  reason. 

86.  As  the  evil  man  as  well  as  the  good  man 
has  rationality  and  liberty,  so  the  evil  man  as  well 
as  the  good  man  is  able  to  understand  truth  and 
do  good ;  but  while  the  good  man  is  able  to  do 
this  from  freedom  in  accordance  with  reason,  the 
evil  man  is  not ;  because  the  evil  man  is  in  the 
enjoyment  of  the  love  of  evil,  while  the  good  man 


CHAPTER    V.,  N.  87  95 

is  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  love  of  good.  Conse- 
quently the  truth  that  the  evil  man  understands  and 
the  good  that  he  does  are  not  appropriated  to  him, 
while  to  the  good  man  good  and  truth  are  appro- 
priated, and  without  appropriation  as  one's  own, 
there  is  no  reformation  nor  regeneration.  For  in 
the  wicked,  evils  with  falsities  are  as  it  were  in  the 
centre,  while  goods  with  truths  are  in  the  circum- 
ferences ;  but  in  the  good,  goods  with  truths  are  in 
the  centre  and  evils  with  falsities  are  in  the  circum- 
ferences ;  and  (in  both  cases  that  which  is  at  the 
centre  flows  out  even  to  the  circumferences,  as  heat 
from  a  central  fire,  or  as  cold  from  a  central  frigid- 
ity. Thus  in  the  evil  the  goods  in  the  circumfer- 
ences are  defiled  by  the  evils  at  the  centre ;  while 
in  the  good,  the  evils  in  the  circumferences  are 
moderated  by  the  goods  at  the  centre.  This  is  why 
evils  do  not  damn  the  regenerate  man,  and  goods 
do  not  save  the  unregenerate  man. 

87.  (v.)  By  means  of  these  two  faculties  -man 
can  be  so  far  reformed  and  regenerated  as  he  can 
be  led  by  means  of  them  to  acknowledge  that  every 
thing  good  and  true  that  he  thinks  and  does  is 
from  the  Lord,  and  not  from  himself. — It  has  been 
told  just  above  what  reformation  is  and  what  regen- 
eration is,  also  that  man  is  reformed  and  regener- 
ated by  means  of  the  two  faculties,  rationality  and 
liberty ;  and  since  it  is  by  means  of  these  that  this 
is  done,  something  further  shall  be  said  about  them. 
It  is  from  rationality  that  man  has  the  ability  to 


96  THE  DIVINE   TROVIDENCE 

understand,  and  from  liberty  that  he  has  the  ability 
to  will,  in  both  cases  as  if  it  were  done  from  himself. 
Nevertheless,  none  but  a  regenerate  man  has  the 
ability  to  will  good  from  freedom,  and  thus  do  it  in 
accordance  with  reason.  An  evil  man  is  able  from 
freedom  to  will  evil  only,  and  to  do  evil  in  accord- 
ance with  the  thought  that  he  makes  by  confirma- 
tions to  appear  rational."  For  evil  can  be  confirmed 
as  easily  as  good ;  although  evil  is  confirmed  by 
means  of  fallacies  and  appearances,  which  become 
falsities  when  they  are  confirmed ;  and  when  any 
thing  has  been  confirmed  it  appears  to  be  brought 
into  harmony  with  the  reason. 

88.  Every  one  who  has  any  thought  from 
interior  understanding  can  see  that  the  power  to 
will  and  the  power  to  understand  are  not  from  man, 
but  are  from  Him  who  possesses  Power  itself,  that 
is,  Power  in  its  essence.  Consider  what  this  source 
of  power  is.  Is  it  not  from  Him  who  has  it  in  its 
very  potency,  that  is,  who  has  it  in  Himself,  and 
thus  from  Himself?  Power  in  itself,  therefore,  is 
Divine.  Every  power  must  have  a  supply  that  must 
be  imparted  to  it,  and  thus  a  determination  from 
what  is  more  internal  or  higher  than  itself.  The 
eye  has  no  power  to  see  from  itself,  nor  has  the 
ear  power  to  hear  from  itself,  nor  the  mouth  to 
speak  from  itself,  nor  the  hand  to  act  from  itself; 
the  supply  and  consequent  determination  must  be 
from  the  mind.  Nor  has  the  mind  from  itself  the 
power  to  think  and  to  will  one  thing  or  another 
apart  from  something  more  internal  or  higher  that 


CHAPTER    V.,  N.  89  97 

determines  the  mind  to  it.  It  is  the  same  with  the 
power  to  understand  and  the  power  to  will  ;  these 
can  come  only  from  Him  who  has  in  Himself  the 
power  to  will  and  the  power  to  understand. 

All  this  makes  clear  that  these  two  faculties 
called  rationality  and  liberty  are  from  the  Lord  and 
not  from  man ;  and  as  they  are  from  the  Lord  it 
follows  that  man  wills  and  understands  nothing 
whatever  from  himself,  but  only  as  if  it  were  from 
himself.  Any  one  can  be  convinced  that  this  is 
true  who  knows  and  believes  that  the  volition  of 
every  good  and  the  understanding  of  every  truth 
are  not  from  man  but  from  the  Lord.  The  Word 
teaches  in  John  (iii.  27  ;  xv.  5)  that 

A  man  can  receive  nothing  from  himself,  and  can  do  no- 
thing from  himself. 

89.  Since,  then,  all  willing  is  from  love  and  all 
understanding  is  from  wisdom,  it  follows  that  the 
power  to  will  must  be  from  the  Divine  love,  and 
the  power  to  understand  from  the  Divine  wisdom, 
and  thus  both  must  be  from  the  Lord,  who  is  Di- 
vine love  itself  and  Divine  wisdom  itself;  and  from 
this  it  follows  that  to  acl:  from  freedom  in  accord- 
ance with  reason  can  be  from  no  other  source.  And 
as  freedom,  like  love,  is  inseparable  from  willing, 
so  all  aclion  is  in  accordance  with  reason.  But 
there  is  in  man  an  interior  and  an  exterior  willing ; 
and  he  can  acl:  in  accordance  with  the  exterior  and 
not  at  the  same  time  in  accordance  with  the  inte- 
rior, as  the  hypocrite  or  the  flatterer  does ;  and 
yet  such  exterior  willing  is  from  freedom,  since  it 


98  THE   DIVINE 

is  from  a  love  of  appearing  something  else  than 
what  one  is,  or  it  is  from  a  love  of  some  evil  that 
one  has  in  mind  from  a  love  of  the  interior  will. 
And  yet,  as  just  said,  an  evil  man  is  unable  to  do 
any  thing  from  freedom  in  accordance  with  his  rea- 
son except  what  is  evil.  From  freedom  in  accord- 
ance with  reason  he  has  no  ability  to  do  good. 
He  can  do  good,  to  be  sure,  but  not  from  that 
interior  freedom  which  is  his  own  freedom,  the 
freedom  from  which  his  exterior  freedom  takes  its 
quality  of  not  being  good. 

90.  It  is  said  that  man  can  be  so  far  reformed 
and  regenerated  as  he  can  be  led  by  means  of  these 
two  faculties  to  acknowledge  that  every  thing  good 
and  true  that  he  thinks  and  does  is  from  the  Lord 
and  not  from  himself.  It  is  only  by  means  of  these 
two  faculties  that  man  can  acknowledge  this,  be- 
cause these  faculties  are  from  the  Lord,  and  are  the 
Lord's  in  man,  as,  is  clear  from  what  has  already 
been  said.  It  therefore  follows  that  man  can  make 
this  acknowledgment  from  the  Lord,  but  not  from 
himself,  nevertheless  he  can  do  it  as  if  it  were  done 
from  himself;  this  the  Lord  gives  to  everyone.  He 
may  believe  it  to  be  from  himself  and  yet  when  he 
is  wise  he  will  acknowledge  that  it  is  not  from  him- 
self. Otherwise  the  truth  that  one  thinks  and  the 
good  that  he  does  are  not  truth  and  good  in  them- 
selves, for  man  is  in  them  and  not  the  Lord  ;  and 
the  good  that  has  man  in  it,  provided  it  has  salva- 
tion as  its  end,  is  a  meritorious  good ;  but  the  good 
that  has  the  Lord  in  it  is  not  meritorious. 


CHAPTER    V.,  N.Ql  99 

91.  But  very  few  are  able  to  apprehend  intel- 
ligently that  acknowledgment  of  the  Lord,  and  an 
acknowledgment  that  all  that  is  good  and  true  is 
from  the  Lord,  are  what  cause  a  man  to  be  re- 
formed and  regenerated.  For  it  may  be  asked, 
What  does  that  acknowledgment  do,  since  the 
Lord  is  omnipotent  and  wills  to  save  all?  And 
is  He  not  able  and  willing  to  do  this,  provided  He 
is  moved  to  mercy?  But  such  thought  is  not  from 
the  Lord ;  nor  is  it  from  any  interior  sight  of  the 
understanding,  that  is,  from  any  enlightenment. 
Therefore  what  this  acknowledgment  effects  shall 
be  briefly  stated. 

In  the  spiritual  world,  where  spaces  are  nothing 
but  appearances,  presence  is  caused  by  wisdom  and 
conjunction  by  love ;  and  vice  versa.  There  can 
be  an  acknowledgment  of  the  Lord  from  wisdom, 
and  there  can  be  an  acknowledgment  of  the  Lord 
from  love.  Acknowledgment  of  the  Lord  from  wis- 
dom, which  regarded  injtself  is  nothing  but  know- 
ledge, is  effected  by  doctrine ;  while  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  Lord  from  love  is  effected  by  a  life  in 
accordance  with  doctrine.  This  produces  conjunc- 
tion, the  other  presence.  And  for  this  reason  those 
that  reject  doctrine  concerning  the  Lord  remove 
themselves  from  Him ;  and  as  such  also  reject  life 
they  separate  themselves  from  Him ;  while  those 
that  reject  life  and  not  doctrine  are  present,  although 
separated.  They  are  like  those  that  talk  with  one 
another  as  friends  but  have  no  love  for  one  an- 
other. Or  they  are  like  two  persons,  one  of  whom 


100  THE  'DIVINE 

speaks  to  the  other  as  a  friend,  and  yet  hates  him 
as  an  enemy. 

That  this  is  true  is  acknowledged  in  the  common 
belief  that  he  who  teaches  well  and  lives  well  is 
saved,  but  he  who  teaches  well  and  lives  wickedly 
is  not  saved ;  also  that  he  who  does  not  acknow- 
ledge God  cannot  be  saved.  All  this  makes  clear 
what  that  religion  is  that  merely  thinks  about  the 
Lord  from  faith,  as  it  is  called,  but  does  not  do  any 
thing  from  charity.  So  the  Lord  says, 

"  Why  call  ye  Me  Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not  the  things  that 
I  say?  Every  one  that  cometh  to  Me  and  heareth  My 
sayings  and  doeth  them,  . .  is  like  a  man  building  a 

house, ....  and  laid  a  foundation  upon  the  rock 

But  he  that  heareth  and  doeth  not  is  like  a  man  that 
built  a  house  upon  the  earth  without  a  foundation" 
(Luke  vi.  46-49). 

92.  (vi.)  By  means  of  these  two  faculties  the 
conjunction  of  the  Lord  with  man  and  the  recipro- 
cal conjunction  of  man  with  the  Lord  are  effected. — 
Conjunction  with  the  Lord  and  regeneration  are  the 
same,  for  so  far  as  any  one  is  conjoined  with  the 
Lord  he  is  regenerated.  Therefore  all  that  has 
been  said  above  of  regeneration  may  be  said  of 
conjunction  ;  and  what  is  here  said  of  conjunction 
may  be  said  of  regeneration.  That  there  is  a  con- 
junction of  the  Lord  with  man,  and  a  reciprocal 
conjunction  of  man  with  the  Lord,  He  Himself 
teaches  in  John: 

"  Abide  in  Me  and  I  in  you He  that  abideth  in  Me 

and  I  in  him,  the  same  beareth  much  fruit"  (xv.  4,  5)- 


CHAPTER    V.,  N.  92  101 

"  At  that  day  ye  shall  know  that ....  ye  are  in  Me  and  I 
in  you"  (xiv.  20). 

Any  one  can  see  from  reason  alone  that  there 
is  no  conjunction  of  minds  unless  it  is  reciprocal, 
and  that  the  reciprocation  is  what  conjoins.  If 
one  loves  another  and  is  not  loved  in  return,  then 
as  the  one  approaches  the  other  withdraws ;  but  if 
he  is  loved  in  return,  then  as  one  approaches  the 
other  approaches,  and  conjunction  takes  place. 
Moreover,  love  wills  to  be  loved ;  this  is  implanted 
in  it  ;  and  so  far  as  love  is  loved  in  return  it  is  in 
itself  and  in  its  enjoyment.  This  makes  clear  that 
when  the  Lord  loves  man  and  is  not  loved  in  re- 
turn by  man,  the  Lord  approaches  and  man  with- 
draws ;  thus  the  Lord  continually  wills  to  draw  near 
to  man  and  to  enter  into  him,  and  man  turns  back 
and  goes  away.  This  is  true  of  those  that  are  in 
hell ;  but  with  those  that  are  in  heaven  there  is  a 
mutual  conjunction. 

Since  the  Lord  wills  conjunction  with  man  in 
order  to  save  him,  He  provides  that  there  shall  be 
in  man  something  reciprocal.  The  reciprocal  in 
man  is  this,  that  the  good  which  he  wills  and  does 
from  freedom,  and  the  truth  which,  from  that  will- 
ing, he  thinks  and  speaks  in  accordance  with  rea- 
son, appear  to  be  from  himself,  and  this  good  in 
his  will  and  this  truth  in  his  understanding  appear 
to  be  his.  To  man  they  even  appear  to  be  from 
himself  and  to  be  his  precisely  as  if  they  were  his, 
with  no  difference  whatever.  Take  notice  whether 
any  one  by  any  sense  perceives  it  to  be  otherwise. 


102  THE  T>II/INE   <PROYIDENCE 

Respecting  this  appearance  as  if  from  oneself  see 
above  (n.  74-77)  ;  and  respecting  appropriation  as 
one's  own  (n.  78-81).  The  only  difference  is  that 
man  is  required  to  acknowledge  that  he  does  good 
and  thinks  truth  not  from  himself  but  from  the 
Lord,  and  consequently  that  the  good  he  does  and 
the  truth  he  thinks  are  not  his.  To  so  think  from 
some  love  in  the  will,  because  such  is  the  truth,  is 
what  causes  conjunction ;  for  thus  man  looks  to 
the  Lord  and  the  Lord  looks  on  man. 

93.  The  nature  of  the  difference  between  those 
who  believe  all  good  to  be  from  the  Lord  and  those 
who  believe  good  to  be  from  themselves  it  has  been 
permitted  me  both  to  hear  and  see  in  the  spiritual 
world.  Those  who  believe  good  to  be  from  the 
Lord  turn  the  face  to  Him,  and  receive  the  enjoy- 
ment and  the  blessedness  of  good.  But  those  who 
believe  good  to  be  from  themselves  look  to  them- 
selves and  think  in  themselves  that  they  are  mer- 
itorious. And  because  they  look  to  themselves 
they  are  able  to  perceive  the  enjoyment  of  their  own 
good  only,  which  is  not  the  enjoyment  of  good 
but  the  enjoyment  of  evil.  For  what  is  man's  own 
(proprium]  is  evil ;  and  the  enjoyment  of  evil  when 
perceived  as  good  is  hell.  Those  that  have  done 
good  and  have  believed  it  to  be  from  themselves,  if 
after  death  they  do  not  receive  the  truth  that  all 
good  is  from  the  Lord,  mingle  with  infernal  genii, 
and  at  length  come  to  be  one  with  them  ;  while 
those  that  receive  this  truth  are  reformed.  But 
none  receive  it  except  those  who  have  looked  to 


CHAPTER    Y.,  N.  94  103 

God  in  their  life.     Looking  to  God  in  their  life  is 
nothing  else  than  shunning  evils  as  sins. 

94.  The  conjunction  of  the  Lord  with  man 
and  the  reciprocal  conjunction  of  man  with  the 
Lord  is  effected  by  loving  the  neighbor  as  oneself 
and  loving  the  Lord  above  all  things.  To  love  the 
neighbor  as  oneself  consists  solely  in  not  acting  in- 
sincerely or  unjustly  towards  him,  not  holding  him 
in  hatred  or  burning  with  revenge  against  him,  not 
reviling  or  defaming  him,  not  committing  adultery 
with  his  wife,  and  not  doing  other  like  things  against 
him.  Who  cannot  see  that  those  who  do  such 
things  do  not  love  the  neighbor  as  themselves? 
But  those  who  do  not  do  such  things  for  the  rea- 
son that  they  are  evils  against  the  neighbor  and 
sins  against  the  Lord,  acl:  sincerely,  justly,  kindly, 
and  faithfully  in  relation  to  the  neighbor;  and  as 
the  Lord  does  likewise,  a  reciprocal  conjunction  is 
effecled.  And  when  there  is  reciprocal  conjunction, 
whatever  a  man  does  to  the  neighbor  he  does  from 
the  Lord;  and  whatever  he  does  from  the  Lord 
is  good.  Then  it  is  not  the  person  but  the  good 
in  the  person  that  is  the  neighbor  to  him.  To  love 
the  Lord  above  all  things  consists  solely  in  doing 
no  evil  to  the  Word  for  the  reason  that  the  Lord 
is  in  the  Word,  or  to  the  holy  things  of  the  church 
for  the  reason  that  the  Lord  is  in  the  holy  things 
of  the  church,  or  to  the  soul  of  any  one,  for  the  rea- 
son that  every  one's  soul  is  in  the  Lord's  hand. 
Those  who  shun  these  evils  as  monstrous  sins  love 
the  Lord  above  all  things.  But  this  none  can  do 


104  THE  VIVINE  TROWDENCE 

except  those  who  love  the  neighbor  as  themselves, 
for  the  two  are  joined  together. 

95.  Because  there  is  a  conjunction  both  of 
the  Lord  with  man  and  of  man  with  the  Lord, 
there  are  two  tables  of  the  law,  one  for  the  Lord 
and  the  other  for  man.  So  far  as  man  keeps  the 
law  of  his  table  as  if  from  himself,  so  far  the  Lord 
enables  him  to  keep  the  laws  of  His  table.  But  the 
man  who  does  not  keep  the  laws  of  his  own  table, 
all  of  which  refer  to  love  to  the  neighbor,  can  not 
keep  the  laws  of  the  Lord's  table,  all  of  which  refer 
to  love  to  the  Lord.  How  can  a  murderer,  a  thief, 
an  adulterer,  or  a  false  witness,  love  the  Lord? 
Does  not  reason  declare  that  being  such  and  loving 
God  involves  a  contradiction?  Is  not  the  devil 
such  ?  Can  the  devil  do  other  than  hate  God  ?  But 
when  a  man  turns  away  from  murder,  adultery, 
theft,  and  false  witness  as  infernal,  then  he  can  love 
the  Lord  ;  for  he  then  turns  his  face  from  the  devil 
to  the  Lord  ;  and  when  he  turns  his  face  to  the 
Lord  love  and  wisdom  are  given  him.  These  enter 
man  by  the  face,  and  not  by  the  back  of  the  neck. 
As  conjunction  with  the  Lord  is  effected  in  this  way 
and  in  no  other  way,  these  two  tables  are  called  a 
covenant  ;  and  a  covenant  is  between  two. 


(vii.)  The  Lord  preserves  these  two  facul- 
ties in  man  unharmed  and  as  sacred  in  the  whole 
course  of  his  Divine  providence.  —  This  is  because 
without  these  two  faculties  man  would  not  possess 
understanding  and  will,  and  thus  would  not  be  man  ; 


CHAPTER    V.,  N.  96  105 

also  because  without  these  two  faculties  man  could 
not  be  conjoined  with  the  Lord,  and  thus  could 
not  be  reformed  and  regenerated ;  also  because 
without  these  two  faculties  man  could  not  have 
immortality  and  eternal  life.  That  this  is  so  can 
be  seen  in  part  from  a  knowledge  of  what  liberty 
and  rationality  are  (which  are  the  two  faculties  here 
meant),  as  given  in  the  preceding  pages;  but  not 
clearly  unless  the  above  propositions  are  presented 
to  view  as  conclusions ;  these  therefore  must  be 
made  clear. 

Without  these  two  faculties  man  would  not  pos- 
sess will  and  understanding,  and  would  not  be 
man. — For  man  has  will  from  no  other  source  than 
being  able  to  will  freely  as  if  from  himself;  and  to 
will  freely  as  if  from  himself  is  from  a  faculty  con- 
tinually given  him  by  the  Lord  that  is  called  liberty. 
And  man  has  understanding  from  no  other  source 
than  being  able  to  understand  as  if  from  himself 
whether  a  thing  is  in  harmony  with  reason  or  not ; 
and  to  understand  whether  a  thing  is  in  harmony 
with  reason  or  not  is  from  the  other  faculty  contin- 
ually given  to  man  by  the  Lord  that  is  called  ra- 
tionality. In  man  these  two  faculties  are  conjoined, 
like  the  will  and  the  understanding  in  this  respect, 
that  man  has  the  ability  to  understand  because  he 
has  the  power  to  will ;  for  willing  is  not  possible 
apart  from  understanding ;  understanding  is  its 
consort  or  mate,  without  which  it  can  not  exist. 
This  is  why  along  with  the  faculty  called  liberty 
the  faculty  called  rationality  is  given  ;  and  why  if 


106  THE  THYINE  'PROVIDENCE 

you  take  away  willing  from  understanding  you  un- 
derstand nothing. 

Moreover,  in  the  measure  of  your  willing  you 
have  the  ability  to  understand,  provided  the  aids 
that  are  called  knowledges  are  both  present  and 
opened,  for  these  are  like  tools  to  the  workman. 
It  is  said  that  you  have  the  ability  to  understand 
in  the  measure  of  your  willing,  that  is,  in  the  mea- 
sure of  your  love  to  understand,  for  the  will  and 
love  act  as  one.  This  may  seem  absurd ;  but  it 
seems  so  only  to  those  who  do  not  love  and  there- 
fore do  not  wish  to  understand ;  and  those  who 
do  not  wish  to  understand  say  that  they  cannot. 
But  who  those  are  that  are  unable  to  understand, 
and  who  those  are  that  are  able  to  understand  with 
difficulty,  will  be  told  in  a  subsequent  article. 

No  proof  is  needed  .to  show  that  unless  man  pos- 
sessed a  will  from  the  faculty  that  is  called  liberty, 
and  an  understanding  from  the  faculty  that  is  called 
rationality,  he  would  not  be  a  man.  Beasts  do  not 
have  these  faculties.  There  is  an  appearance  that 
beasts  are  able  to  will  and  to  understand,  but  they 
are  not.  Natural  affection,  which  in  itself  is  desire, 
with  its  mate,  knowledge,  is  what  alone  leads  and 
moves  beasts  to  do  what  they  do.  There  is,  it  is 
true;  something  of  the  civil  and  moral  in  their 
knowledge ;  but  this  is  not  above  their  knowledge 
because  they  have  no  spiritual  which  gives  percep- 
tion of  the  moral,  and  consequently  have  no  ability 
to  think  analytically  about  it.  They  can,  indeed, 
be  taught  to  do  something ;  but  this  is  only  some- 


CHAPTER    y.,  N.  96  107 

thing  natural  that  adds  itself  to  their  knowledge 
and  affection  simultaneously,  and  is  reproduced 
either  through  the  sight  or  through  the  hearing; 
but  in  no  wise  becomes  a  matter  of  thought  still 
less  of  reason  in  them.  But  something  respecting 
this  may  be  seen  above  (n.  74). 

Without  these  two  faculties  man  could  not  be 
conjoined  with  the  Lord,  and  thus  could  not  be  re- 
formed and  regenerated. — This  has  been  shown 
above.  For  the  Lord  has  His  residence  in  man, 
both  in  the  evil  and  in  the  good,  in  these  two 
faculties ;  and  it  is  by  means  of  them  that  He 
conjoins  Himself  with  every  man.  It  is  from  this 
that  an  evil  man  as  well  as  a  good  man  has  the 
ability  to  understand,  and  in  consequence  has  in 
potency  the  will  of  good  and  the  understanding  of 
truth ;  that  he  does  not  have  them  actually  is  ow- 
ing to  the  abuse  of  these  faculties.  That  the  Lord 
has  His  residence  in  every  man  in  these  faculties  is 
from  the  inflow  of  His  will,  in  that  He  wills  to  be 
received  by  man  and  to  have  an  abode  in  him 
and  to  give  him  the  happy  things  of  eternal  life. 
All  this  belongs  to  the  Lord's  will,  for  it  belongs  to 
His  Divine  love.  It  is  this  will  of  the  Lord  that 
causes  the  appearance  in  man  that  what  he  thinks, 
speaks,  wills  and  does  is  his  own. 

That  it  is  the  inflow  of  the  Lord's  will  that 
does  this  can  be  established  by  many  things  from 
the  spiritual  world.  Sometimes  the  Lord  so  fills 
an  angel  with  His  Divine  that  the  angel  does  not 
know  that  he  is  not  the  Lord.  Thus  were  the  an- 


108  THE  ^lYINE  'PROyiDENCE 


gels  filled  that  were  seen  by  Abraham,  Hagar,  and 
Gideon,  and  therefore  they  called  themselves  Jeho- 
vah, of  whom  in  the  Word.  Again,  one  spirit  can 
be  so  filled  by  another  as  not  to  know  but  that  he 
is  the  other.  This  I  have  often  seen.  Furthermore 
it  is  known  in  heaven  that  the  Lord  does  every 
thing  by  willing  it,  and  that  whatever  he  wills  is 
done.  All  this  makes  clear  that  it  is  by  means  of 
these  two  faculties  that  the  Lord  conjoins  Himself 
with  man  and  causes  man  to  be  reciprocally  con- 
joined with  him.  But  how  man  is  reciprocally 
conjoined  by  means  of  these  faculties,  and  how  he 
is  consequently  reformed  and  regenerated  by  means 
of  them,  has  been  told  above,  and  more  will  be 
said  about  it  further  on. 

That  man  without  these  two  faculties  could  not 
have  immortality  and  eternal  life,  follows  from  what 
has  just  been  said,  that  by  means  of  them  there 
is  conjunction  with  the  Lord,  also  reformation  and 
regeneration  ;  through  conjunction  man  has  immor- 
tality, and  through  reformation  and  regeneration 
he  has  eternal  life.  And  as  by  means  of  these  two 
faculties  there  is  a  conjunction  of  the  Lord  with 
every  man,  both  the  evil  and  the  good,  as  has  been 
said,  so  every  man  has  immortality.  But  eternal 
life,  that  is,  the  life  of  heaven,  is  given  to  him  in 
whom  there  is  a  reciprocal  conjunction  from  inmosts 
to  outmosts.  From  all  this  the  reasons  are  evident 
why  the  Lord  preserves  these  two  faculties  in  man 
unharmed  and  as  sacred,  in  the  whole  course  of  his 
Divine  providence. 


CHAPTER    V.,  N.  97  109 

97.  (viii.)  Therefore  it  is  [a  law\  of  the  Di- 
vine providence  that  man  should  at~l  from  freedom 
in  accordance  with  reason. — To  acl:  from  freedom 
in  accordance  with  reason,  to  act  from  liberty  and 
rationality,  and  to  act  from  the  will  and  the  under- 
standing, are  the  same  thing ;  but  it  is  one  thing 
to  acl  from  freedom  in  accordance  with  reason,  or 
to  acl  from  liberty  and  rationality,  and  it  is  another 
thing  to  acl:  from  freedom  itself  in  accordance  with 
reason  itself  or  to  acl:  from  liberty  itself  and  from 
rationality  itself.  For  a  man  who  does  evil  from 
the  love  of  evil  and  confirms  that  evil  in  himself, 
acts  from  freedom  in  accordance  with  reason ;  but 
his  freedom  is  not  in  itself  freedom,  or  freedom  it- 
self, but  is  an  infernal  freedom  that  is  in  itself  slav- 
ery ;  and  his  reason  is  not  in  itself  reason,  but  is 
a  spurious  or  a  false  reason,  or  what  is  made  to 
appear  by  confirmations  to  be  reason.  Nevertheless 
they  are  both  of  the  Divine  providence ;  for  if  the 
freedom  to  will  evil  and  to  make  it  appear  by  con- 
firmations to  be  in  accordance  with  reason  were 
taken  away  from  the  natural  man,  liberty  and  ra- 
tionality, and  will  and  understanding  with  them, 
would  perish,  and  he  would  have  no  ability  to  be 
withdrawn  from  evils  and  reformed,  and  thus  con- 
joined with  the  Lord  and  live  forever.  Conse- 
quently the  Lord  guards  freedom  in  man  as  the 
man  guards  the  apple  of  his  eye.  Nevertheless, 
the  Lord  continually  withdraws  man  from  evils  by 
means  of  his  freedom  ;  and  so  far  as  he  is  able  to 
withdraw  him  He  implants  what  is  good  by  means 


HO  THE  T>/F/N£  TROYIDENCE 

of  freedom.  Thus  in  the  place  of  infernal  freedom 
the  Lord  gradually  endows  man  with  heavenly  free- 
dom. 

98.  It  has  been  said  above  that  every  man 
possesses  the  faculty  to  will  that  is  called  liberty, 
and  the  faculty  to  understand  that  is  called  ration- 
ality ;  but  it  should  be  well  understood  that  these 
faculties  are,  as  it  were,  innate  in  man,  for  his  hu- 
man itself  is  in  them.  But,  as  has  just  been  said,  it 
is  one  thing  to  acl:  from  freedom  in  accordance 
with  reason,  and  another  thing  to  acl  from  freedom 
itself  in  accordance  with  reason  itself.  Only  such 
as  have  suffered  themselves  to  be  regenerated  by 
the  Lord  acl;  from  freedom  itself  in  accordance  with 
reason  itself;  all  others  acl;  from  freedom  in  accord- 
ance with  thought  to  which  they  give  the  sem- 
blance of  reason.  And  yet  every  man,  unless  born 
foolish  or  excessively  stupid,  is  able  to  attain  to 
reason  itself,  and  through  it  to  freedom  itself.  But 
there  are  many  reasons  why  every  man  does  not 
do  this,  that  will  be  made  known  in  what  follows. 
Here  it  will  only  be  told  who  those  are  to  whom 
freedom  itself  or  liberty  itself,  together  with  reason 
itself  or  rationality  itself,  cannot  be  given ;  and  to 
whom  they  can  scarcely  be  given. 

Liberty  itself  and  rationality  itself  cannot  be 
given  to  those  that  are  born  foolish,  or  to  those 
that  have  become  foolish,  so  long  as  they  remain 
so.  They  cannot  be  given  to  those  born  stupid 
and  gross,  or  to  any  that  have  become  so  from 
the  torpor  of  idleness,  or  from  any  disease  that 


CHAPTER    V'.,  N.  99  III 

has  perverted  or  wholly  closed  the  interiors  of  the 
mind,  or  from  the  love  of  a  beastly  life. 

Liberty  itself  and  rationality  itself  cannot  be 
given  to  those  in  the  Christian  world  who  wholly 
deny  the  Lord's  Divinity  and  the  holiness  of  the 
Word,  and  have  maintained  this  denial  confirmed 
in  them  to  the  end  of  life ;  for  this  is  meant  by  the 
sin  against  the  Holy  Spirit  which  is  not  forgiven 
either  in  this  world  or  in  the  world  to  come  (Matt. 
xii.  31,32). 

Neither  can  liberty  itself  and  rationality  itself  be 
given  to  those  who  attribute  all  things  to  nature 
and  nothing  to  the  Divine,  and  who  have  made 
this  to  be  their  belief  by  reasonings  from  things 
visible ;  for  such  are  atheists. 

Liberty  itself  and  rationality  itself  can  scarcely 
be  given  to  those  who  have  strongly  confirmed 
themselves  in  falsities  of  religion,  for  a  confirmer  of 
falsity  is  a  denier  of  truth.  But  they  can  be  given 
to  those  who,  whatever  their  religion  may  be,  have 
not  so  confirmed  themselves  (on  which  see  what  is 
presented  in  The  Dottrine  of  the  New  Jerusalem 
concerning  the  Sacred  Scripture,  n.  91-97). 

Infants  and  children  cannot  come  into  liberty 
itself  and  rationality  itself  until  they  are  grown  up  ; 
for  the  interiors  of  the  mind  in  man  are  opened 
gradually ;  and  in  the  mean  time  they  are  like 
seeds  in  unripe  fruit,  that  cannot  sprout  in  the  soil. 

99.  It  has  been  said  that  liberty  itself  and 
rationality  itself  cannot  be  given  to  those  that  have 
denied  the  Lord's  Divinity  and  the  holiness  of  the 


112  THE  DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

Word,  or  to  those  that  have  confirmed  themselves 
in  favor  of  nature  against  the  Divine,  and  scarcely 
to  those  that  have  strongly  confirmed  themselves 
in  falsities  of  religion.  Yet  none  of  these  have  lost 
the  faculties  themselves.  I  have  known  atheists 
who  had  become  devils  and  satans  to  understand 
the  arcana  of  wisdom  as  well  as  angels,  but  only 
while  they  heard  them  from  others  ;  and  when  they 
returned  into  their  own  thoughts  they  did  not  un- 
derstand, for  the  reason  that  they  had  no  desire  to. 
They  were  shown  that  they  might  have  the  desire 
if  they  were  not  misled  by  the  love  and  consequent 
enjoyment  of  evil ;  and  this  they  understood  when 
they  heard  it,  and  even  asserted  that  they  might, 
but  that  they  had  no  wish  to  be  able,  since  this 
would  make  them  unable  to  will  what  they  had 
willed,  which  was  evil,  from  enjoyment  in  its  lust. 
I  have  often  heard  such  wonderful  things  in  the 
spiritual  world,  by  which  it  has  been  fully  proved 
to  me  that  every  man  possesses  liberty  and  ration- 
ality ;  and  that  everyone  can  come  into  liberty  itself 
and  rationality  itself  provided  he  shuns  evils  as  sins. 
But  a  mature  man  who  does  not  come  into  liberty 
itself  and  rationality  itself  in  the  world  can  in  no 
wise  come  into  them  after  death  ;  for  his  state  of  life 
then  remains  forever  such  as  it  had  been  in  the 
world. 


VI. 


IT  IS  A  LAW  OF  THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  THAT  MAN  SHOULD 
AS  IF  FROM  HIMSELF  PUT  AWAY  EVILS  AS  SINS  IN 
THE  EXTERNAL  MAN ;  AND  THE  LORD  IS  ABLE  IN  THIS 
WAY  AND  IN  NO  OTHER  TO  PUT  AWAY  EVILS  IN 
THE  INTERNAL  MAN,  AND  SIMULTANEOUSLY  IN  THE 
EXTERNAL. 

100. 

ANY  one  is  able  to  see  from  reason  alone  that 
the  Lord,  who  is  good  itself  and  truth  itself, 
cannot  enter  into  man  unless  the  evils  and  fals- 
ities in  him  are  put  away ;  for  evil  is  the  opposite 
of  good,  and  falsity  is  the  opposite  of  truth,  and  two 
opposites  can  in  no  wise  be  commingled,  but  when 
one  draws  near  to  the  other  a  combat  takes  place, 
which  lasts  till  one  gives  way  to  the  other ;  and 
the  one  that  yields  departs,  and  the  other  takes  its 
place.  In  such  opposition  are  heaven  and 'hell,  or 
the  Lord  and  the  devil.  Can  any  one  think  in  a 
rational  way  that  the  Lord  can  enter  where  the  devil 
reigns,  or  that  heaven  can  be  where  hell  is?  From 
the  rationality  granted  to  every  sane  man  can  he 
not  see  that  for  the  Lord  to  enter  the  devil  must  be 
cast  out?  or  for  heaven  to  enter,  hell  must  be  put 
away? 

This  opposition  is  meant  by  Abraham's  words 
from  heaven  to  the  rich  man  in  hell, 


114  THE  "DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

"  Between  us  and  you  there  is  a  great  gulf  fixed  ;  that 
those  wishing  to  pass  from  this  side  to  you  may  not 
be  able,  nor  can  those  on  that  side  pass  over  to  us  " 
(Luke  xvi.  26). 

Evil  itself  is  hell,  and  good  itself  is  heaven  ;  or  what 
is  the  same,  evil  itself  is  the  devil,  and  good  itself  is 
the  Lord ;  and  the  man  in  whom,  evil  reigns  is  a 
hell  in  the  least  form  ;  while  the  man  in  whom  good 
reigns  is  a  heaven  in  the  least  form.  This  being  so, 
how  can  heaven  enter  hell  when  between  them  a 
gulf  so  great  is  fixed  that  there  can  be  no  crossing 
from  one  to  the  other?  From  all  this  it  follows  that 
hell  must  by  all  means  be  put  away  to  make  it  pos- 
sible for  the  Lord  with  heaven  to  come  in. 

IOT.  But  many,  especially  such  as  have  con- 
firmed themselves  in  a  faith  separated  from  charity, 
do  not  know  that  when  they  are  in  evils  they  are 
in  hell ;  they  do  not  even  know  what  evils  are,  for 
the  reason  that  they  give  no  thought  to  evils,  saying 
that  as  they  are  not  under  the  yoke  of  the  law  they 
are  not  condemned  by  the  law,  and  that,  as  they 
are  unable  to  contribute  anything  to  their  salva- 
tion, they  are  unable  to  put  away  any  evil  from 
themselves ;  and  furthermore  are  unable  to  do  any 
good  from  themselves.  These  are  such  as  neglecl: 
to  think  about  evil,  and  because  of  this  they  are 
continually  in  evil.  Such  are  meant  by  the  goats 
spoken  of  by  the  Lord  in  Matthew  (xxv.  32,  33, 
41-46),  as  may  be  seen  in  The  Dottrine  of  the 
New  Jerusalem  f.oncerning  Faith  (n.  61-68),  of 
whom  it  is  said, 


CHAPTER    VI.,  N.   IO2  115 

"  Depart  from  Me,  ye  cursed,  into  the  eternal  fire  which 
is  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels  "  (verse  41). 

For  those  who  give  no  thought  to  the  evils  in 
themselves,  that  is,  do  not  examine  themselves  and 
afterwards  refrain  from  evils,  must  needs  be  ignor- 
ant of  what  evil  is,  and  must  needs  love  it  from  en- 
joyment in  it ;  for  he  who  does  not  know  what  evil 
is  loves  it,  and  he  who  fails  to  think  about  it  is 
continually  in  it.  Like  a  blind  man  he  does  not 
see  it.  For  it  is  the  thought  that  sees  good  and 
evil,  as  it  is  the  eye  that  sees  the  beautiful  and  the 
unbeautiful ;  and  he  who  so  thinks  and  wills  evil 
as  to  believe  that  evil  does  not  appear  before  God, 
or  that  if  it  does  appear  it  is  forgiven,  is  in  evil, 
since  he  is  thus  led  to  think  that  he  is  free  from 
evil.  If  such  abstain  from  doing  evils  they  do  not 
abstain  because  evils  are  sins  against  God,  but 
because  they  fear  the  laws  or  the  loss  of  reputa- 
tion ;  and  they  still  do  them  in  their  spirit,  for  it  is 
the  spirit  of  man  that  thinks  and  wills  ;  consequently 
what  a  man  thinks  in  his  spirit  in  this  world,  that  he 
does  after  he  leaves  this  world  when  he  becomes  a 
spirit. 

In  the  spiritual  world,  into  which  every  man 
comes  after  death,  it  is  not  asked  what  your  belief 
has  been,  or  what  your  doctrine  has  been,  but  what 
your  life  has  been,  that  is,  whether  it  has  been  such 
or  such  ;  for  it  is  known  that  as  one's  life  is  such  is 
his  belief,  and  even  his  doctrine ;  for  the  life  makes 
doctrine  for  itself,  and  belief  for  itself. 

102.    From  what  has   now  been  said  it  can  be 


116  THE  '-DIVINE  TROISIDENCE 

seen  that  it  is  a  law  of  the  Divine  providence  that 
evils  should  be  put  away  by  man ;  for  unless  they 
are  put  away  the  Lord  cannot  be  conjoined  with 
man,  and  cannot  from  Himself  lead  man  into  heaven. 
But  as  it  has  not  been  known  that  man  ought  as  if 
of  himself  to  put  away  the  evils  in  the  external  man, 
and  unless  man  does  this  as  if  of  himself  the  Lord 
can  not  put  away  the  evils  that  are  in  man's  inter- 
nal, these  things  shall  be  presented  to  the  reason  in 
its  own  light  in  the  following  order  : 

(i.)  Every  man  has  an  external  and  an  in- 
ternal of  thought. 

(ii.)  The  external  of  man's  thoitght  is  in  it- 
self of  the  same  char  after  as  its  in- 
ternal. 

(iii.)  The  internal  cannot  be  cleansed  from 
the  lusts  of  evil  so  long  as  the  evils 
in  the  external  man  are  not  put 
away,  since  these  obstruct. 

(iv.)  The  evils  in  the  external  man  can  be  put 
away  by  the  Lord  only  through  mans 
instrtimentality. 

(v.)  Therefore  man  oiight  as  if  of  himself 
to  put  away  evils  from  the  external 


(vi.)  Then  the  Lord  cleanses  man  from  the 
lusts  of  evil  in  the  internal  man  and 
from  the  evils  themselves  in  the  ex- 
ternal. 

(vii.)  It  is  the  unceasing  effort  of  the  Lord's 
Divine  providence  to  conjoin  man 
with  Himself  and  Himself  with  man, 
that  He  may  be  able  to  bestow  upon 
man  the  happinesses  of  eternal  life  ; 
and  this  can  be  done  only  so  far  as 
eT->ils  with  their  lusts  are  put  away. 


CHAPTER    VI.,  N.   104  117 

103.  (i.)  Every  man  has  an  external  and  an 
internal  of  thought. — The  same  is  here  meant  by 
the  external  and  internal  of  thought  as  by  the  ex- 
ternal and  internal  man,  and  by  this  nothing  else  is 
meant  than   the   external  and  internal    of  the  will 
and  understanding ;  for  the  will  and  understanding 
are  what  constitute  man,  and  as  these  manifest  them- 
selves in  the  thoughts,  the  terms  external  and  in- 
ternal of  thought  are  used.     Since,  then,  it  is  the 
spirit  of  man  and  not  his  body  that  wills  and  un- 
derstands and  therefore  thinks,  it  follows  that  this 
external  and  internal  are  the  external  and  internal 
of  man's  spirit.     The  aclion  of  the  body,  whether  in 
words  or  deeds,  is   only  an  effecl:  from  the  inter- 
nal and  external  of  man's  spirit,  since  the  body  is 
mere  obedience. 

104.  Every  man  of  mature  age  has  an  external 
and  an  internal  of  thought,  and  therefore  an  exter- 
nal [and  an  internal]  of  will  and  understanding,  or 
an  external  and  an  internal  of  the  spirit,  which  is 
the  same  as  the  external  and  the  internal  man  ;  and 
this  is  evident  to  any  one  who  observes  carefully 
another's  thoughts  and  intentions  as  exhibited   in 
his  words  or  acls,  and  also  his  own  thoughts  when 
in  company  and  when  he  is  alone.     For  one  can 
talk  with  another  in  a  friendly  way  from  external 
thought,  and  yet  be  at  enmity  with  him  in  inter- 
nal thought.     From  external  thought  and  its  affec- 
tion a  man  can  talk  about  love  towards  his  neigh- 
bor and  love  to  God,  when  in  his  internal  thought 
he  cares  nothing  for  the  neighbor  and  has  no  fear 


118  THE  <D/F/N£ 

of  God.  From  external  thought  and  its  affection 
a  man  can  talk  about  the  justice  of  civil  laws,  the 
virtues  of  moral  life,  and  matters  of  docTrine  and 
spiritual  life ;  and  yet  when  alone  by  himself  he 
may  from  internal  thought  and  its  affeclion  speak 
against  the  civil  laws,  the  virtues  of  moral  life,  and 
matters  of  doclrine  and  spiritual  life  ;  and  this  is 
done  by  those  who  are  in  the  lusts  of  evil,  but 
who  wish  it  to  appear  before  the  world  that  they 
are  not  in  them. 

Moreover,  many  think  to  themselves,  when  they 
hear  others  talking,  whether  these  are  interiorly  in 
themselves  thinking  in  accord  with  the  thoughts 
they  are  expressing,  whether  or  not  they  are  to  be 
believed,  and  what  their  intentions  are.  It  is  well 
known  that  flatterers  and  hypocrites  have  a  double 
thought ;  for  they  are  able  to  keep  things  to  them- 
selves and  to  guard  against  disclosing  their  interior 
thought ;  and  some  can  conceal  it  more  and  more 
deeply,  and  as  it  were  block  up  the  doors  lest  it 
appear.  That  both  exterior  and  interior  thought 
are  possible  to  man  is  also  clearly  evident  from  his 
being  able  from  his  interior  thought  to  look  upon 
his  exterior  thought,  and  to  judge  of  it  whether 
it  is  evil  or  not  evil.  That  the  mind  of  man  is  such 
is  due  to  the  two  faculties  that  man  has  from  the 
Lord,  called  liberty  and  rationality.  Unless  man 
had  'from  these  an  external  and  an  internal  of 
thought  he  would  not  be  able  to  perceive  and  see 
any  evil  in  himself  and  be  reformed ;  in  facl,  he 


CHAPTER    VI.,  N.  106  119 

would  not  be  able  to  speak,  but  only  to  utter  sounds 
like  a  beast. 

105.  The  internal  of  thought  is  from  the  life's 
love  and  its  affections  and  the    perceptions  there- 
from ;  the  external  of  thought  is  from  the  contents 
of  the  memory,  which  are  serviceable  to  the  life's 
love  as   confirmations  and  as  means  to  further   its 
end.     From  infancy  to  early  rnanhood  man  is  in  the 
external  of  thought  from  an  affeclion  for  knowing, 
which   then  constitutes  its  internal ;  also  there  ex- 
hales from  his  life's  love,  which  is  innate  from  his 
parents,    something   of  lust  and   inclination   there- 
from.    But  afterwards  the  way  he  lives  determines 
his  life's  love  ;  and  its  affections  with  the  perceptions 
therefrom   constitute  the  internal   of  his  thought ; 
while   the   life's   love   determines   the   love   of  the 
means  ;  and  the  enjoyments  of  this  and  the  know- 
ledges thereby  called  forth  from  the  memory  con- 
stitute the  external  of  his  thought. 

106.  (ii.)    The  external  of  man's  thought  is  in 
itself  of  the  same  chara£ler  as  its  internal. — That 
man  from  head  to  foot  is  of  the  same  character  as 
his  life's  love  has  been  shown  above.     In  the  first 
place,  therefore,  something  must  be  said  about  the 
life's  love  in  man  ;  for  this  must  precede  any  con- 
sideration of  the  affections  associated  with  percep- 
tions which  constitute  man's  internal,  and  of  the 
enjoyments   of  affections  associated  with  thoughts 
which  constitute  his  external. 

Loves  are  manifold  ;  but  two  of  them,  heavenly 


120  THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE 

love  and  infernal  love,  are  like  lords  and  kings. 
Heavenly  love  is  love  to  the  Lord  and  love  towards 
the  neighbor ;  and  infernal  love  is  love  of  self  and 
of  the  world.  These  two  kinds  of  love  are  opposite 
to  each  other  as  hell  and  heaven  are ;  for  those 
who  are  in  the  love  of  self  and  the  world  have  no 
good  will  for  any  but  themselves ;  while  those  who 
are  in  love  to  the  I^ord  -and  in  love  towards  the 
neighbor  have  good  will  for  all.  These  two  loves 
are  the  life's  loves  of  man,  but  with  much  variety. 
Heavenly  love  is  the  life's  love  of  those  whom  the 
Lord  leads,  and  infernal  love  is  the  life's  love  of 
those  whom  the  devil  leads. 

But  the  life's  love  of  no  one  can  exist  without 
derivatives,  which  are  called  affections.  The  deriv- 
atives of  infernal  love  are  affections  for  evil  and 
falsity,  which,  strictly  speaking,  are  lusts ;  and  the 
derivatives  of  heavenly  love  are  affections  for  good 
and  truth,  which,  strictly  speaking,  are  dilections. 
Of  infernal  love  there  are  as  many  affections,  that  is, 
lusts,  as  there  are  evils  ;  and  of  heavenly  love  there 
are  as  many  affections,  that  is,  dilections,  as  there 
are  goods.  Love  dwells  in  its  affections  like  a  lord 
in  his  realm,  or  like  a  king  in  his  kingdom.  The 
dominion  or  sovereignty  of  these  loves  is  over  the 
things  of  the  mind,  that  is,  the  things  of  man's  will 
and  understanding,  and  thence  of  the  body.  The 
life's  love,  by  means  of  its  affections  and  percep- 
tions therefrom,  and  its  enjoyments  and  thoughts 
therefrom,  rules  the  entire  man, — the  internal  of  his 
mind  by  means  of  affections  and  perceptions  there- 


CHAPTER   VI.,  N.  1 08  121 

from,  and  the  external  by  means  of  the  enjoyments 
of  the  affections  and  thoughts  therefrom. 

107.  The  form  of  this  rule  can  in  some  mea- 
sure be  seen  by  comparisons.     Heavenly  love  with 
its   affections  for  good  and  truth  and  perceptions 
therefrom,  together  with  the  enjoyments  from  these 
affections  and  thoughts  therefrom,  may  be  likened 
to  a  tree  with  an  abundance  of  branches,  leaves, 
and  fruits.    The  life's  love  is  the  tree ;   the  branches 
with  the  leaves  are  affections  for  good  and  truth 
with  their  perceptions ;    and  the  fruits  are  the  en- 
joyments of  affections  with  their  thoughts.     But  in- 
fernal love,  with   its  affections  for  evil  and  falsity, 
which  are  lusts,  together  with  the   enjoyment   of 
these  lusts  and  thoughts  therefrom,  may  be  likened 
to  a  spider  with  its  surrounding  web.     The  love  is 
the  spider;   the  lusts  of  evil  and  falsity  with  their 
interior  subtleties   are  the  net-like  threads  nearest 
the   spider's  seat;     and   the   enjoyments  of  these 
lusts  with  their  deceitful  devices  are  the  remoter 
threads,  where   the  flies  are  caught  on  the  wing, 
and  are  bound  and  eaten. 

108.  The  conjunction  of  all  things  of  the  will 
and  understanding,  that  is,  of  the  mind  of  man  with 
his  life's  love,  is  made  evident  by  these  compari- 
sons, and  yet  not  made  rationally  evident.      The 
conjunction  is  made  rationally  evident  in  this  way. 
There  are  every  where  three  things  together  that 
make  one ;  these  are  called  end,  cause,  and  effect ; 
here  the  life's  love  is  the  end,  the  affections  with 
their  perceptions  are  the  cause,  and  the  enjoyment 


122  THE  VIVINE   'PROVIDENCE 

of  the  affedions  with  their  thoughts  are  the  effed ; 
for  just  as  the  end  through  the  cause  enters  into 
the  effed,  so  does  the  love  through  its  affections 
come  to  its  enjoyments,  and  through  its  percep- 
tions to  its  thoughts.  The  effeds  themselves  are 
in  the  mind's  enjoyments  and  their  thoughts,  when- 
ever these  enjoyments  belong  to  the  will  and  the 
thoughts  to  the  understanding  therefrom,  that  is, 
whenever  the  agreement  is  complete.  Then  the 
effects  belong  to  the  spirit,  and  if  they  do  not  come 
into  bodily  ad,  still  they  are  as  if  in  ad  when  there 
is  agreement.  Furthermore,  they  are  then  together 
in  the  body,  and  dwell  there  with  the  life's  love  of 
the  man,  and  aspire  to  adion,  which  takes  place 
when  nothing  hinders.  Such  are  lusts  of  evil  and 
the  evils  themselves'  in  those  who  in  their  spirit 
make  evils  allowable. 

Now  as  the  end  conjoins  itself  with  the  cause, 
and  through  the  cause  with  the  effed,  so  does  the 
life's  love  conjoin  itself  with  the  internal  of  thought, 
and  through  this  with  its  external.  This  makes 
clear  that  the  external  of  man's  thought  is  in  itself 
of  the  same  charader  as  its  internal;  for 'the  end 
imparts  itself  wholly  to  the  cause,  and  through  the 
cause  to  the  effed ;  for  there  is  nothing  essen- 
tial in  the  effed  except  what  is  in  the  cause,  and 
through  the  cause  in  the  end.  And  as  the  end  is 
thus  the  very  essential  which  enters  into  the  cause 
and  the  effed,  cause  and  effed  are  called  mediate 
and  outmost  ends. 

109.    Sometimes  the  external  of  man's  thought 


CHAPTER    VI.,  N.   /Op  123 

does  not  appear  to  be  of  the  same  character  as 
the  internal ;  but  this  is  because  the  life's  love  with 
its  surrounding  internals  places  a  vicar  below  itself, 
which  is  called  the  love  of  means,  and  enjoins  upon 
it  to  take  heed  and  watch  that  nothing  from  its 
lusts  appear.  This  vicar,  therefore,  from  the  cun- 
ning of  its  chief,  which  is  the  life's  love,  talks  and 
acts  in  accord  with  the  civil  requirements  -of  the 
country,  the  moral  requirements  of  reason,  and  the 
spiritual  requirements  of  the  church.  Some  do  this 
so  craftily  and  ingeniously  that  no  one  sees  that 
they  are  not  such  as  their  speech  and  act  indicate ; 
and  at  last,  from  the  habit  of  concealment,  they 
scarcely  know  otherwise  themselves.  All  hypo- 
crites are  such  ;  and  such  are  the  priests  who  at 
heart  care  nothing  for  the  neighbor  and  do  not  fear 
God,  and  yet  preach  about  love  of  the  neighbor 
and  the  love  of  God ;  such  are  the  judges  who 
give  judgment  according  to  bribes  and  friendship, 
while  they  show  a  pretended  zeal  for  justice,  and 
from  reason  talk  of  judgment ;  such  are  the  mer- 
chants who  are  insincere  and  fraudulent  at  heart, 
while  they  acl  sincerely  for  the  sake  of  gain  ;  and 
such  are  adulterers,  when  from  the  rationality  that 
every  man  has  they  talk  about  the  chastity  of  mar- 
riage ;  and  so  on. 

But  when  these  same  persons  strip  this  love  of 
means — this  vicar  of  their  life's  love — of  the  gar- 
ments of  purple  and  fine  linen  with  which  they 
have  invested  it,  and  clothe  it  in  its  domestic  garb, 
thev  think,  and  sometimes,  with  their  dearest  friends 


124  THE  'DIVINE  PROVIDENCE 

whose  life's  love  is  similar,  they  speak  from  their 
thought  in  a  wholly  opposite  way.  It  might  be 
supposed,  when  from  their  love  of  means  they  have 
talked  so  justly,  sincerely,  and  piously,  that  the 
character  of  the  internal  of  their  thought  was  not 
in  the  external  of  their  thought,  and  yet  it  was. 
There  is  hypocrisy  in  such ;  there  is  a  love  of  self 
and  the  world  in  them,  and  the  cunning  of  that 
love  is  to  secure  reputation  for  the  sake  of  honor 
or  gain  in  respect  to  outmost  appearances.  This 
character  of  the  internal  is  in  the  external  of  their 
thought  when  they  so  speak  and  act. 

no.  But  in  those  who  are  in  heavenly  love 
the  internal  and  the  external  of  thought,  or  the 
internal  and  the  external  man,  make  one  when  they 
speak  ;  nor  do  such  know  any  difference  between 
these.  Their  life's  love,  with  its  affections  for  good 
and  the  perceptions  for  truth  belonging  thereto,  is 
like  a  soul  in  their  thoughts,  and  in  what  they 
speak  and  do  from  them.  If  they  are  priests  they 
preach  from  love  towards  the  neighbor  and  from 
love  to  the  Lord ;  if  judges  they  judge  from  gen- 
uine justice ;  if  merchants  they  acl  from  genuine 
sincerity;  if  married  they  love  their  wives  from 
genuine  chastity  ;  and  so  on.  The  life's  love  of 
such  has  its  love  of  means  as  its  vicar,  which  it 
teaches  and  leads  to  act:  from  prudence,  and  clothes 
with  the  garments  of  zeal  both  for  truths  of  doc- 
trine and  for  o-oods  of  life. 


CHAPTER   VI.,  N.   Ill  125 

in.  (iii.)  The  internal  cannot  be  cleansed  from 
the  lusts  of  evil  so  long  as  the  evils  in  the  external 
man  are  not  put  away,  since  these  obstrufl. — This 
follows  from  the  preceding  statement,  that  the  ex- 
ternal of  man's  thought  is  in  itself  of  the  same  char- 
acter as  its  internal ;  and  that  the  two  cohere  like 
things  that  are  not  only  one  within  the  other  but 
one  from  the  other";  consequently  one  cannot  be 
set  aside  unless  the  other  is  also.  It  is  so  with 
every  thing  external  that  is  from  an  internal,  and 
with  every  thing  posterior  that  is  from  a  prior,  and 
with  every  effect  that  is  from  a  cause. 

Since,  thenr  lusts  with  their  subtleties  constitute 
in  the  evil  the  internal  of  thought,  and  the  enjoy- 
ments of  lusts  together  with  their  devices  constitute 
the  external  of  thought,  and  the  latter  and  the 
former  are  joined  together  as  one,  it  follows  that 
the  internal  cannot  be  cleansed  from  lusts  so  long 
as  the  evils  in  the  external  man  are  not  put  away. 
It  should  be  understood  that  man's  internal  will  is 
that  which  is  in  the  lusts,  and  the  internal  under- 
standing is  that  which  is  in  the  subtleties,  and  that 
the  external  will  is  that  which  is  in  the  enjoyments 
of  the  lusts,  and  the  external  understanding  is  that 
which  is  in  the  devices  from  the  subtleties.  Any- 
one can  see  that  lusts  and  their  enjoyments  make 
one,  and  that  the  subtleties  and  devices  make  one ; 
also  that  these  four  are  in  one  series,  and  together 
make  as  it  were  one  bundle  ;  and  from  this  again  it 
is  clear  that  the  internal,  which  consists  of  lusts, 
can  be  cast  out  only  by  the  putting  away  of  the  ex- 


126  THE  TUVINE  "PROVIDENCE 

ternal,  which  consists  of  evils.  Lusts  through  their 
enjoyments  produce  evils  ;  but  when  evils  are  be- 
lieved to  be  allowable,  which  comes  from  the  agree- 
ment of  will  and  understanding,  the  enjoyments 
and  the  evils  make  one.  It  is  acknowledged  that 
this  agreement  is  equivalent  to  doing  the  thing ; 
and  this  is  what  the  Lord  says, 

"Whosoever  looketh  on  another's  woman  to  lust  after  her 
hath  committed  adultery  with  her  already  in  his  heart" 
(Matt.  v.  28). 

It  is  the  same  with  other  evils. 

IT2.  From  all  this  it  can  now  be  seen  that 
evils  must  surely  be  put  away  from  the  external 
man  that  man  may  be  cleansed  from  the  lusts  of 
evil ;  for  until  this  is  done  there  is  no  possible  exit 
for  lusts  ;  and  if  there  is  no  exit  the  lusts  remain 
within  and  breathe  out  enjoyments  from  themselves, 
and  so  they  urge  men  on  to  the*  consent,  thus  to 
the  doing.  Through  the  external  of  thought  the 
lusts  enter  the  body ;  when  therefore  there  is  con- 
sent in  the  external  of  thought  the  lusts  are  at  once 

o 

present  in  the  body ;  and  the  enjoyment  that  is  felt 
is  there.  That  as  the  mind  is  such  is  the  body, 
thus  the  whole  man,  may  be  seen  in  the  work  on 
The  Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom  (n. 
362-370).  This  may  be  made  clear  by  compari- 
sons and  also  by  examples. 

By  comparisons  :  Lusts  with  their  enjoyments 
may  be  likened  to  fire;  the  more  a.  fire  is  fed  the 
more  it  burns ;  and  the  freer  the  course  given  it 
the  further  it  spreads,  until  in  a  city  it  consumes  the 


CHAPTER   VL,   N.  I  Ij  127 

houses,  and  in  a  forest  the  trees.  In  the  Word  the 
lusts  of  evil  are  likened  to  fire,  and  their  evils  to  its 
burning.  Moreover,  in  the  spiritual  world,  lusts  of 
evil  with  their  enjoyments  appear  like  fires ;  infer- 
nal fire  is  nothing  else.  Lusts  may  also  be  likened 
to  floods  and  inundations  of  water  when  dikes  or 
dams  give  way.  They  may  also  be  likened  to  gan- 
grenous sores  and  ulcers,  which,  if  they*  run  their 
course  or  are  not  cured,  bring  death  to  the  body. 

By  examples :  It  is  made  clear  that  unless  the 
evils  in  the  external  man  are  put  away  the  lusts  and 
their  enjoyments  grow  and  multiply.  The  more  a 
thief  steals  the  more  he  loves  to  steal,  till  at  last  he 
cannot  refrain ;  so  with  the  defrauder,  the  more  he 
defrauds.  The  same  is  true  of  hatred  and  revenge, 
of  luxury  and  intemperance,  of  whoredom  and  blas- 
phemy, and  the  like.  Every  one  knows  that  the 
love  of  ruling  from  the  love  of  self  increases  as  rein 
is  given  to  it ;  equally  the  love  of  possessing  from 
love  of  the  world  ;  these  seem  to  be  without  limit 
or  end.  All  this  makes  clear  that  so  far  as  the  evils 
in  the  external  are  not  put  away  their  lusts  multiply, 
and  that  lusts  increase  to  the  extent  that  evils  have 
loose  rein. 

113.  Man  is  not  able  to  perceive  the  lusts  of  his 
evil ;  he  does  perceive  their  enjoyments,  although 
he  does  not  think  much  about  them  ;  for  the  enjoy- 
ments divert  the  thoughts  and  banish  reflection. 
Consequently,  unless  one  knew  from  some  other 
source  that  his  lusts  are  evils  he  would  call  them 
good,  and  from  freedom  in  accordance  with  the  rea- 


128  THE  ViyiNE  <PROriDENCE 


son  of  his  thought  he  would  give  expression  to 
them  ;  and  when  he  does  that  he  appropriates  them 
to  himself.  So  far  as  he  confirms  evils  as  allow- 
able he  enlarges  the  court  of  the  ruling  love,  which 
is  his  life's  love.  Lusts  are  what  constitute  its 
court  ;  for  they  are  like  its  ministers  and  attendants, 
through  which  it  governs  the  exteriors  that  consti- 
tute its  kingdom.  But  as  is  the  king  such  are  the 
ministers  and  attendants,  and  such  the  kingdom. 
When  a  king  is  a  devil  his  ministers  and  attend- 
ants are  insanities,  and  the  people  of  his  kingdom 
are  falsities  of  every  kind,  which  his  ministers 
(whom  they  call  wise  although  they  are  insane,) 
cause,  by  means  of  reasonings  from  fallacies  and  by 
means  of  illusions,  to  appear  as  truths,*  and  cause 
to  be  acknowledged  as  truths.  Can  such  a  state  in 
man  be  changed  except  by  putting  away  the  evils 
in  the  external  man?  For  thereby  the  lusts  that 
cling  to  evils  are  put  away.  Otherwise  no  exit  is 
open  for  the  lusts  ;  for  they  are  shut  in  like  a  be- 
sieged city,  or  like  a  closed  ulcer. 

114.  (iv.)  The  evils  in  the  external  man  can 
be  put  away  by  the  Lord  only  through  man's  in- 
strumentality. —  In  all  Christian  churches  the  doc- 
trine has  been  accepted  that  before  man  approaches 
the  holy  communion  he  shall  examine  himself,  shall 
see  and  acknowledge  his  sins,  and  shall  do  the 
work  of  repentance  by  refraining  from  evils  and  by 
rejecting  them  because  they  are  from  the  devil  ; 
and  otherwise  his  sins  are  not  forgiven,  and  he  is 


CHAPTER   VI.,  N.  114  129 

damned.  The  English  hold  the  doclrine  of  faith 
alone,  and  yet  in  their  exhortation  to  the  holy 
communion  they  plainly  teach  self-examination, 
acknowledgment,  confession  of  sins,  repentance, 
and  renewal  of  life ;  and  those  who  fail  to  do  this 
are  threatened  that  the  devil  will  enter  into  them  as 
he  did  into  Judas,  and  will  fill  them  with  all  iniquity, 
and  destroy  both  body  and  soul.  The  Germans, 
the  Swedes,  and  the  Danes,  who  also  hold  the  doc- 
trine of  faith  alone,  have  the  same  teaching  in  their 
exhortation  to  the  holy  communion,  threatening 
also  that  all  such  will  be  subject  to  infernal  punish- 
ments and  to  eternal  damnation  for  mixing  the  holy 
and  the  profane.  This  is  read  by  the  priest  with  a 
loud  voice  before  those  who  are  about  to  come  to 
the  Holy  Supper,  and  is  listened  to  by  them  with 
full  acknowledgment  that  it  is  so. 

And  yet  when  these  same  persons  listen  on  the 
same  day  to  the  preaching  of  faith  alone,  and  that 
the  law  does  not  condemn  them  because  the  Lord 
fulfilled  it  for  them,  and  that  they  are  not  able  from 
themselves  to  do  any  good  except  what  is  merito- 
rious, and  thus  works  have  nothing  saving  in  them, 
but  faith  only,  they  return  home  entirely  forgetful  of 
their  former  confession,  and  discarding  it  so  far  as 
they  give  their  thought  to  the  preaching  about  faith 
alone.  Which  of  these,  then,  is  true;  this  or  that? 
For  two  things  contrary  to  each  other  cannot  both 
be  true,  as  on  the  one  hand,  that  without  self-ex- 
amination, recognition,  acknowledgment,  confession, 
and  renunciation  of  sins,  thus  without  repentance, 


J30  THE  'DIVINE 

there  is  no  forgiveness  of  sins,  thus  no  salvation, 
but  eternal  damnation  ;  and  on  the  other  hand  that 
such  things  contribute  nothing  to  salvation,  because 
the  Lord  by  the  passion  of  the  cross  has  made  full 
satisfaction  for  all  the  sins  of  men,  for  those  \\  ho 
have  faith ;  and  that  those  who  have  faith  only, 
with  confidence  that  it  is  true,  and  with  a  trust  in 
the  imputation  of  the  Lord's  merit,  are  without  sins, 
and  appear  before  God  like  those  with  washed  and 
bright  faces. 

From  all  this  it  is  clear  that  it  is  the  common 
religion  of  all  the  churches  in  the  Christian  world 
that  man  should  examine  himself,  should  see  and 
acknowledge  his  sins,  and  afterwards  refrain  from 
them  ;  and  that  otherwise  there  is  not  salvation,  but 
damnation.  Moreover,  that  this  is  the  veritable 
Divine  truth  is  evident  from  the  passages  in  the 
Word,  where  man  is  commanded  to  repent ;  as  the 
following : 

Jesus  said,  "  Bring  forth  therefore  fruits  worthy  of  re- 
pentance  Even  now  is  the  axe  laid  unto  the  root 

of  the  tree  ;  every  tree  therefore  that  bringeth  not 
forth  good  fruit  is  hewn  down,  and  cast  into  the  fire  " 
(Luke  iii.  8,  9). 

Jesus  said,  "  Except  ye^  repent  ye  shall  all .  .  perish " 
(Luke  xiii.  3,  5). 

Jesus  preached  "  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom  of  God, . . . 
Repent  ye  and  believe  the  gospel  "  (Mark  i.  14,  15). 

Jesus  sent  forth  His  disciples,  and  they  went  out  and 
preached  "that  men  should  repent"  (Mark  vi.  12). 

Jesus  said  to  the  apostles  that  "  repentance  and  remis- 
sion of  sins  should  be  preached  ....  unto  all  nations '' 
(Luke  xxiv.  47). 

John  preached  "  the  baptism  of  repentance  for  the  re- 
mission of  sins  "  (Mark  i.  4  ;  Litke  iii.  3). 


CHAPTER    VI. ,  N.  7/5  .  131 

Think  of  this  with  some  understanding ;  and  if 
you  have  religion  you  will  see  that  repentance  from 
sins  is  the  way  to  heaven,  that  faith  separate  from 
repentance  is  not  faith,  and  that  those  who  are  not 
in  faith  because  they  do  not  repent  are  in  the  way 
to  hell. 

115.  Those  who  are  in  faith  separate  from 
charity,  and  have  confirmed  themselves  in  it  from 
Paul's  saying  to  the  Romans, 

That  a  man  is  justified  by  faith  apart  from  the  works 
of  the  law  (Rom.  iii.  28), 

adore  this  saying  like  men  who  adore  the  sun  ;  and 
they  become  like  those  who  fix  their  eyes  steadily 
on  the  sun,  by  which  the  sight  is  so  blurred  that 
they  can  see  nothing  in  ordinary  light.  For  they 
do  not  see  that  "the  works  of  the  law"  mean,  not 
the  commandments  of  the  decalogue,  but  the  ritu- 
als described  by  Moses  in  his  books,  which  are 
there  always  called  "the  law."  Lest,  therefore,  it 
should  be  thought  that  the  commandments  are 
meant  Paul  explains  by  saying, 

"  Do  we  then  make  void  the  law  through  faith  ?  God 
forbid  ;  yea,  we  establish  the  law"  (verse  31  of  the 
same  chapter). 

Those  who  have  confirmed  themselves  by  this  say- 
ing in  faith  separate  from  charity,  from  gazing  at 
this  passage  as  at  the  sun,  fail  to  see  where  Paul 
enumerates  the  laws  of  faith  as  being  the  very 
works  of  charity  ;  and  what  is  faith  without  its  laws  ? 
Nor  do  they  notice  where  he  enumerates  evil  works, 


132          .  THE  TfiyiNE  TROflDENCE 

and  declares  that  those  who  do  them  cannot  enter 
into  heaven.  This  shows  clearly  how  great  is  the 
blindness  that  has  been  induced  by  a  wrong  under- 
standing of  this  single  passage. 

116.  Evils  in  the  external  man  can  be  put 
away  only  by  man's  instrumentality,  because  it  is  of 
the  Lord's  Divine  providence  that  whatever  man 
hears,  sees,  thinks,  wills,  speaks,  and  does,  seems 
to  him  to  be  wholly  his  own.  Without  this  appear- 
ance (as  has  been  shown  above,  n.  71-95,  and  in 
subsequent  numbers)  there  could  be  in  man  no 
reception  of  Divine  truth,  no  determination  towards 
doing  good,  no  appropriation  of  love  and  wisdom 
or  of  charity  and  faith,  and  therefore  no  conjunc- 
tion with  the  Lord,  consequently  no  reformation 
and  regeneration  and  thus  salvation.  Without  this 
appearance  repentance  from  sins,  and  faith  even, 
are  evidently  impossible.  It  is  also  evident  that 
without  this  appearance  a  man  would  not  be  a 
man,  but  would  be  devoid  of  rational  life  like  a 
beast.  Let  any  one  who  will  consult  his  reason  and 
see,  when  a  man  thinks  about  good  and  truth,  spir- 
itual, moral,  or  civil,  whether  there  is  any  other 
appearance  than  that  he  thinks  from  himself;  let 
him  then  accept  this  doctrinal,  that  every  thing 
good  and  true  is  from  the  Lord  and  nothing  from 
man ;  and  will  he  not  acknowledge  this  conse- 
quence, that  man  must  do  good  and  think  truth  as 
if  of  himself,  and  yet  must  acknowledge  that  he 
does  it  from  the  Lord  ;  and  furthermore,  that  man 


CHAPTER   VL,  N.  If]  133 

must  put  away  evils  as  if  of  himself  and  yet  must 
acknowledge  that  he  does  it  from  the  Lord  ? 

117.  Many  are  not  aware  that  they  are  in 
evils,  inasmuch  as  they  do  not  do  them  outwardly 
because  they  fear  the  civil  laws  and  the  loss  of 
reputation,  and  thus  from  custom  and  habit  fall  into 
the  way  of  shunning  evils  as  detrimental  to  their 
honor  and  success.  But  when  evils  are  not  shunned 
from  a  religious  principle,  on  the  ground  that  they 
are  sins  and  antagonistic  to  God,  the  lusts  of  evil 
with  their  enjoyments  still  remain,  like  impure  wa- 
ters confined  and  stagnant.  Let.  such  examine  their 
thoughts  and  intentions,  and  they  will  find  these 
lusts,  provided  they  know  what  sins  are.  » 

This  is  a  state  of  many  who  have  confirmed 
themselves  in  faith  separate  from  charity,  who, 
believing  that  the  law  does  not  condemn  them,  do 
not  even  think  about  sins ;  and  some  question 
whether  there  are  any  sins  in  them,  or  if  there  are, 
whether  they  are  sins  before  God,  since  they  have 
been  pardoned.  In  a  like  state  are  natural  moral- 
ists, who  believe  that  civil  and  moral  life  with  its 
prudence  accomplishes  everything  and  Divine  pro- 
vidence nothing.  Such  also  are  those  who  strive 
with  great  eagerness  after  a  reputation  and  name 
for  honesty  and  sincerity  for  the  sake  of  honor  or 
gain.  But  those  who  are  of  this  character,  and 
who  have  also  despised  religion,  become  after  death 
spirits  of  lusts,  appearing  to  themselves  as  if  they 
were  men,  but  to  others  at  a  distance  like  lecher- 


134  THE  TUWNE  PROVIDENCE 

ous  forms  (priapi] ;  and  like  birds  of  night  they  see 
in  the  dark  and  not  in  the  light. 

118.  (v.)    Therefore  man  ought  as  if  of  him- 
self to  put  away  evils  from  the   external  man. — 
This   has   already  been  proved  by  what  has  been 
said.     It  may  also  be  seen  explained  in  three  arti- 
cles in  the  DoElrine  of  Life  for  the  New  Jerusalem, 
first,  That  no  one  can  shun  evils  as  sins,  so  as  to 
turn  away  from   them   interiorly,  except   by  com- 
bats against  them  (n.  92-100)  ;  secondly,  That  man 
ought  to  shun  evils  as   sins   and  to  fight   against 
them  as  if  of  himself  (n.  101-107)  ;    thirdly,  That 
if  one  sh«ns  evils  for  any  reason  whatever  except 
that  they  are  sins    he  does    not   shun    them,   but 
only  prevents  their  appearing  before  the  world  (n. 
108-113). 

119.  (vi.)    Then  the  Lord  cleanses  man  from 
the  lusts  [of  evil]  in  the  internal  man,  and  from 
the  evils   themselves    in  the    external. — The    Lord 
cleanses  man  from  the  lusts  of  evil  when  the  man, 
as  if  of  himself,  puts  away  the  evils,  for  the  reason, 
in  the  first  place,  that  the  Lord  cannot  cleanse  him 
until  he  does  this  because  the  evils  are  in  the  ex- 
ternal man  and  the  lusts  of  evil  in  the  internal  man, 
and  the  two  are  connected  like  roots  and  trunk  ; 
consequently  until  the  evils  are  put  away  no  open- 
ing is  possible,  for  the  evils  obstruct  and  close  the 
door ;    and   the  door  can  be  opened  by  the  Lord 
only  by  man's  instrumentality,  as  has  been  shown 


CHAPTER    VI.,  N.   120  135 

just  above.  When,  therefore,  man  as  if  of  himself 
opens  the  door,  the  Lord  roots  out  the  lusts  and  the 
evils  together. 

A  second  reason  is,  that  the  Lord  acts  into 
man's  inmost,  and  from  the  inmost  into  conse- 
quent things  even  to  outmosts ;  while  man  is  simul- 
taneously in  outmosts.  Therefore  so  long  as  man 
from  himself  holds  the  outmosts  closed  there  can -be 
no  cleansing,  but  only  such  operation  by  the  Lord 
in  man's  interiors  as  the  Lord  carries  on  in  hell 
(the  man  who  is  both  in  lusts  and  in  evils  being  a 
form  of  hell),  and  this  operation  is  only  an  arrange- 
ment to  prevent  one  thing  from  destroying  another, 
and  to  prevent  the  violation  of  good  and  truth. 
The  Lord  continually  solicits  and  urges  man  to 
open"" the  door  to  Him,  as  is  clear  from  His  words 
in  the  Apocalypse: 

"Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock  ;  if  anyone  hear 
My  voice  and  open  the  door,  I  will  come  in  to  him 
and  will  sup  with  him  and  he  with  Me  "  (iii.  20). 

120.  Of  the  interior  state  of  his  mind  or  of 
his  internal  man,  man  knows  nothing  whatever. 
Although  there  are  infinite  things  there,  not  one 
of  them  comes  to  man's  cognizance.  For  the  in- 
ternal of  man's  thought,  or  his  internal  man,  is  his 
spirit  itself;  and  in  it  there  are  things  as  infinite 
and  numberless  as  there  are  in  his  body,  and  even 
more  innumerable ;  for  man's  spirit  is  a  man  in  its 
form,  and  all  things  belonging  to  it  correspond  with 
all  things  of  man  in  the  body.  And  just  as  man 
has  no  knowledge  from  any  sensation  of  the  man- 


136  THE  'DIVINE  TROWDENCE 

ner  in  which  his  mind  or  his  soul  operates  in  all 
things  of  the  body,  conjointly  and  severally,  so 
neither  does  he  know  in  what  manner  the  Lord 
operates  in  all  things  of  his  mind  or  soul,  that  is, 
in  all  things  of  his  spirit.  The  operation  is  un- 
ceasing; in  it  man  has  no  part,  and  yet  the  Lord 
can  cleanse  man  from  no  lust  of  evil  in  his  spirit  or 
internal  man  so  long  as  man  holds  his  external 
closed.  Man  holds  his  external  closed  by  means 
of  evils,  every  one  of  which  seems  to  him  as  a  sin- 
gle thing,  and  yet  in  every  one  there  are  infinite 
things ;  and  when  man  puts  away  an  evil  as  a  sin- 
gle thing  the  Lord  puts  away  the  infinite  things 
in  it.  This  is  what  is  meant  by  the  Lord's  then 
cleansing  man  from  the  lusts  of  evil  in  the  internal 
man,  and  from  the  evils  themselves  in  the  ex- 
ternal. 

121.  Many  believe  that  man  is  cleansed  from 
evils  by  merely  believing  what  the  church  teaches ; 
others  by  his  doing  good  ;  others  by  his  knowing, 
talking  about,  and  teaching  the  things  of  the 
church ;  others  by  his  reading  the  Word  and  pious 
books ;  others  by  his  attending  churches,  listening 
to  sermons,  and  especially  by  coming  to  the  Holy 
Supper ;  others  by  his  renouncing  the  world  and 
devoting  himself  to  piety ;  and  others  by  his  con- 
fessing himself  guilty  of  all  sins  ;  and  so  on.  Yet 
none  of  these  cleanse  man  in  the  least  unless  he 
examines  himself,  sees  his  sins,  acknowledges  them, 
condemns  himself  for  them,  and  repents  by  refrain- 
ing from  them  ;  and  all  this  he  must  do  as  if  of 


CHAPTER    VI.,  N.  12}  137 

himself,  but  with  acknowledgment  in  heart  that  he 
does  it  from  the  Lord,  Until  this  is  done  the 
things  that  have  been  mentioned  above  do  not  help 
at  all,  for  they  are  either  meritorious  or  hypocritical  ; 
and  those  who  do  them  appear  in  heaven  before 
angels  like  beautiful  harlots,  smelling  badly  from 
their  corruption,  or  like  ill-favored  women  so  paint- 
ed as  to  appear  handsome,  or  like  masked  aclors 
and  mimics  on  the  stage,  or  like  apes  in  human 
clothing.  But  when  evils  have  been  put  away  the 
things  enumerated  above  belong  to  the  love  of 
those  who  do  them ;  and  such  appear  in  heaven 
before  the  angels  as  beautiful  human  beings  and 
partners  and  companions  of  the  angels. 

122.  But  it  must  be  well  understood  that  when 
a  man  wishes  to  repent  he  must  look  to  the  Lord 
alone ;  if  he  looks  to  God  the  Father  only  he  can- 
not be  cleansed ;  nor  if  he  looks  to  the  Father  for 
the  sake  of  the  Son,  nor  if  he  looks  to  the  Son  as 
merely  a  man.     For  there  is  one  God,  and  that  one 
is  the  Lord,  His  Divine  and  Human  being  one  per- 
son, as  shown  in  the  DoElrine  of  the  New  Jeru- 
salem concerning  the  Lord.     In  order  that  man  in 
repenting  might  look  to  the  Lord  alone  He  insti- 
tuted the  Holy  Supper,  which  confirms  the  remis- 
sion of  sins  in  those  who  repent.     It  confirms  this 
because  in  that  Supper  or  communion  every  one 
is  kept  looking  to  the  Lord  alone. 

123.  (vii.)  It   is   the    unceasing  effort   of  the 
Lord's   Divine    providence   to   conjoin    man   with 


/38  THE    'DWINE  TROYIDENCE 

Himself  and  Himself  with  man,  that  he  may  be 
able  to  bestow  upon  man  the  happinesses  of  eternal 
life  ;  and  this  can  be  done  only  so  far  as  evils  with 
their  lusts  are  put  away. — That  it  is  the  unceasing 
effort  of  the  Lord's  Divine  providence  to  conjoin 
man  with  Himself  and  Himself  with  man,  and  that 
this  conjunction  is  what  is  called  reformation  and 
regeneration,  and  that  from  it  man  has  salvation 
has  been  shown  above  (n.  27-45).  Who  does  not 
see  that  conjunction  with  God  is  life  eternal  and 
salvation?  Every  one  sees  it  who  believes  that  men 
are  from  creation  images  and  likenesses  of  God 
(Gen.  i.  26,  27),  and  who  knows  what  an  image  and 
likeness  of  God  is. 

Who  that  is  possessed  of  sound  reason,  when 
he  thinks  from  his  rationality  and  is  willing  to  think 
from  his  liberty,  can  believe  that  there  are  three 
Gods,  equal  in  essence,  and  that  Divine  Being 
(Esse)  or  Divine  Essence  can  be  divided?  That  there 
is  a  Trine  in  the  one  God  can  be  conceived  and 
comprehended,  as  one  can  comprehend  that  there 
are  soul,  body,  and  outgoing  of  life  from  these  in 
an  angel  or  in  a  man.  And  as  it  is  in  the  Lord 
alone  that  this  Trine  in  One  is  possible,  it  follows 
that  conjunction  must  be  with  the  Lord.  Make  use 
of  your  rationality  together  with  your  liberty  of 
thinking  and  you  will  see  this  truth  in  its  light ;  but 
first  grant  that  there  is  a  God,  and  a  heaven  and 
eternal  life. 

Since,  then,  God  is  one,  and  man  was  made 
from  creation  an  image  and  likeness  of  Him,  and 


CHAPTER   YI.,  N.  124 


139 


since  by  means  of  infernal  love  and  its  lusts  and 
their  enjoyments  man  has  come  into  the  love  of  all 
evils,  and  has  thereby  destroyed  in  himself  the 
image  and  likeness  of  God,  it  follows  that  it  is  the 
unceasing  effort  of  the  Lord's  Divine  providence 
to  conjoin  man  with  Himself  and  Himself  with  man, 
and  thus  make  man  to  be  an  image  of  God.  It  also 
follows,  that  this  is  to  the  end  that  the  Lord  may 
bestow  upon  man  the  happinesses  of  eternal  life ;  for 
such  is  Divine  love. 

But  the  Lord  cannot  bestow  these  upon  man, 
nor  make  him  an  image  of  Himself,  unless  man,  as 
if  of  himself,  puts  away  sins  in  the  external  man ; 
for  the  reason  that  the  Lord  is  not  only  Divine  love 
but  is  also  Divine  wisdom  ;  and  Divine  love  does 
nothing  except  from  its  own  Divine  wisdom  and  in 
accordance  with  it.  And  it  is  in  accordance  with 
His  Divine  wisdom  that  man  cannot  be  conjoined 
with  the  Lord,  and  thus  reformed,  regenerated,  and 
saved,  unless  it  is  permitted  him  to  acl:  from  free- 
dom in  accordance  with  reason  (for  by  this  man  is 
man).  And  whatever  is  in  accordance  with  the 
Lord's  Divine  wisdom  belongs  also  to  his  Divine 
providence. 

124.  To  this  I  will  add  two  arcana  of  angelic 
wisdom,  from  which  it  can  be  seen  what  the  Divine 
providence  is  :  first,  that  the  Lord  in  no  wise  acls 
upon  any  particular  thing  in  man  singly  without 
acling  simultaneously  upon  all  things ;  secondly, 
that  the  Lord  a<5ls  from  inmosts  and  from  outmosts 
simultaneously. 


140  THE    'DIVINE  TROYIDENCE 

The  Lord  in  no  wise  aEls  upon  any  particular 
thing  in  man  singly  without  atling  simultaneously 
upon  all  things  of  -man,  for  the  reason  that  all 
things  of  man  are  in  such  connection,  and  through 
this  connection  in  such  a  form,  that  they  do  not  act 
as  many  but  as  a  one.  It  is  acknowledged  that  in 
respect  to  his  body  man  is  in  such  a  connection, 
and  through  this  connection  in  such  a  form.  The 
human  mind  is  in  a  like  form  from  a  connection  of 
all  things  in  it ;  for  the  human  mind  is  the  spiritual 
man,  and  is  actually  the. man.  From  this  it  is  that 
man's  spirit,  which  is  his  mind  in  his  body,  is  in  its 
entire  form  a  man  ;  consequently  man  after  death  is 
just  as  much  a  man  as  he  was  in  the  world,  with  this 
difference  only,  that  he  has  cast  off  the  coverings 
that  formed  his  body  in  the  world. 

Since,  then,  the  human  form  is  such  that  all  the 
parts  make  a  general  whole,  which  acts  as  one,  it 
follows  that  one  part  cannot  be  moved  out  of  its 
place  and  changed  in  state  except  by  the  consent 
of  the  rest ;  for  if  one  were  removed  from  its  place 
and  changed  in  state,  the  form  which  acts  as  one 
would  suffer.  This  makes  clear  that  the  Lord  in 
no  wise  acts  upon  any  particular  thing  without  act- 
ing simultaneously  upon  all.  Thus  does  the  Lord 
act  upon  the  entire  angelic  heaven,  since  the  entire 
angelic  heaven  in  the  Lord's  sight  is  as  one 'man. 
Thus,  too,  does  He  act  upon  each  angel,  because 
each  angel  is  a  heaven  in  the  least  form.  Thus 
also  does  he  act  upon  each  man,  primarily  upon 
all  things  of  his  mind,  and  through  these  upon  all 


CHAPTER    VI.,  N.  124  141 

things  of  his  body ;  for  the  mind  of  man  is  his 
spirit,  and  in  the  measure  of  its  conjunction  with 
the  Lord  is  an  angel,  while  the  body  is  obedience. 

But  it  should  be  clearly  understood  that  the 
Lord  also  acls  upon  every  particular  in  man  singly, 
and  even  most  singly,  but  simultaneously  through 
all  things  of  his  form  ;  and  yet  He  does  not  change 
the  state  of  any  part  or  of  any  particular  thing  ex- 
cept harmoniously  with  the  whole  form.  But  on 
this  more  will  be  said  in  what  follows ;  where  it  will 
be  shown  that  the  Lord's  Divine  providence  is  uni- 
versal because  it  is  in  particulars,  and  that  it  is 
particular  because  it  is  universal. 

The  Lord  a£ls  from  inmosts  and  from  outmosts 
simultaneously. — This  is  true  for  the  reason  that  in 
this  and  in  no  other  way  can  all  things  and  each 
thing  be  held  together  in  connection  ;  for  intermed- 
iates are  connected  in  unbroken  series  from  inmosts 
even  to  outmosts,  and  in  outmosts  they  are  togeth- 
er ;  for  in  the  outmost  there  is  a  simultaneous  pres- 
ence of  all  things  from  the  first,  as  has  been  shown 
in  Part  Third  of  the  work  on  The  Divine  Love  and 
the  Divine  Wisdom. 

It  was  for  this  reason  also  that  the  Lord  from 
eternity,  or  Jehovah,  came  into  the  w.orld,  and  there 
put  on  and  assumed  Humanity  in  outmosts,  that  he 
might  be  from  firsts  and  in  outmosts  together ;  and 
thus  from  firsts  through  outmosts  might  rule  the 
whole  world  and  thereby  save  the  men  whom  he 
is  able  to  save  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  His 
Divine  providence,  which  are  also  the  laws  of  His 


142  THE  DIVINE  VROWDENCE 

Divine  wisdom.  And  thus  it  is,  as  acknowledged 
in  the  Christian  world,  that  no  mortal  could  have 
been  saved  unless  the  Lord  had  come  into  the  world 
(see  the  DocJrine  of  the  New  Jerusalem  concerning 
Faith,  n.  35).  And  this  is  why  the  Lord  is  called 
"The  First  and  the  Last." 

125.  These  angelic  arcana  have  been  premised 
to  make  comprehensible  the  operation  of  the  Lord's 
Divine  providence  in  conjoining  man  with  the  Lord, 
and  the  Lord  with  man.  This  operation  is  not 
upon  any  particular  of  man  by  itself,  except  as  it  is 
simultaneously  upon  all  things  of  man ;  and  this  is 
done  from  his  inmost  and  from  his  outmosts  simul- 
taneously. The  inmost  of  man  is  his  life's  love ;  his 
outmosts  are  the  things  that  are  in  the  external  of 
his  thought ;  and  his  intermediates  are  the  things 
that  are  in  the  internal  of  his  thought.  The  quality 
of  these  in  the  evil  man  has  already  been  shown. 

From  this  again  it  is  clear  that  the  Lord  cannot 
acl;  from  inmosts  and  outmosts  simultaneously  ex- 
cept in  connection  with  man,  for  in  outmosts  man 
and  the  Lord  are  together,  consequently  as  man 
acls  in  outmosts,  which  are  under  his  control,  being 
within  the  realm  of  his  freedom,  so  the  Lord  ads 
from  man's  inmosts  and  upon  the  unbroken  series 
to  outmosts.  The  things  that  are  in  man's  inmosts 
and  in  the  series  from  inmosts"  to  outmosts  are 
wholly  unknown  to  man  ;  and  therefore  he  knows 
nothing  whatever  of  the  way  in  which  the  Lord 
works  there  or  what  He  does  ;  but  as  this  work  is  so 
closely  connected  as  to  be  a  one  with  outmosts  it  is 


CHAPTER   VI.,  N.  1 27  143 

unnecessary  for  man  to  know  more  than  that  he 
must  shun  evils  as  sins  and  look  to  the  Lord.  In 
this  and  in  no  other  way  can  his  life's  love,  which 
from  birth  is  infernal,  be  put  away  by  the  Lord,  and 
a  heavenly  life's  love  be  implanted  in  its  place. 

126.  When  a  heavenly  life's  love  has  been  im- 
planted by  the  Lord  in  place  of  an  infernal  life's 
love,  affections  for  good  and  truth  are  implanted  in 
place  of  the  lusts  of  evil  and  falsity ;  and  the  enjoy- 
ments of  affeclions  for  good  are  implanted  in  place 
of  the  enjoyments  of  the  lusts  of  evil  and  falsity ; 
and  the  goods  of  heavenly  love  are  implanted  in 
place  of  the  evils  of  infernal  love.     Then  prudence 
is  implanted  in  place  of  cunning,  and  wise  thoughts 
in  place   of  crafty  thoughts.     Thus   man    is    born 
again  and  becomes  a  new  man.     What  kinds  of 
good  succeed  in  place  of  evils  can  be  seen  in  the 
DoElrine  of  Life  for  the  New  Jerusalem  (n.  67-73, 
74-79,  80-86,  87-91)  ;   also  that   so   far   as  a  man 
shuns  and  turns  away  from  evils  as  sins  he  loves 
the  truths  of  wisdom  (n.  32-41) ;  and  so  far  he  has 
faith  and  is  spiritual  (n.  42-52). 

127.  It  has  been  shown  from  the  exhortations 
read  in  all  Christian  churches  before  the  holy  com- 
munion  that   the   common    religion  of  the  whole 
Christian    world   teaches    that   man   must  examine 
himself,  see   his   sins,   acknowledge   them,  confess 
them  before  God,  and  refrain  from  them ;  and  that 
this  is   repentance,    remission   of  sins,  and   conse- 
quently salvation.     This  can  be  seen  also  from  the 
Faith  that  takes  its  name  from  Athanasius,  and  that 


144  THE  *D1VINE 

has  been  accepted  in  the  whole  Christian  world ; 
at  the  end  of  which  are  these  words  : 

"  The  Lord  will  come  to  judge  the  living  and  dead  ; 
at  whose  coming  those  that  have  done  good  shall  en- 
ter into  life  eternal,  and  those  that  have  done  evil  into 
eternal  fire." 

128.  Who  does  not  know  from  the  Word  that 
a  life  after  death  is  allotted  to  every  one  according 
to  his  deeds?  Open  the  Word,  read  it,  and  you 
will  see  this  clearly ;  but  while  doing  this,  exclude 
from  your  thoughts  faith  and  justification  by  it 
alone.  As  evidence  that  the  Lord  teaches  this  every 
where  in  His  Word,  take  these  few  examples  : 

"  Every  tree  that  bringeth  not  forth  good  fruit  is  hewn 
down  and  cast  into  the  fire.  Therefore  by  their  fruits 
ye  shall  know  them  "  (Matt.  vii.  19,  20). 

"  Many  will  say  to  Me  in  that  day,  Lord, . . .  have  we  not 
prophesied  by  Thy  name,  . . .  and  in  Thy  name  done 
many  mighty  works?  And  then  will  I  profess  unto 
them,  I  do  not  know  you  ;  depart  from  Me,  ye  that 
work  iniquity"  (Matt.  vii.  22,  23). 

"Every  one  that  heareth  My  words  and  doeth  them,  I 
will  liken  him  to  a  prudent  man  who  built  his  house 
upon  a  rock  ;  . . .  .  and  every  one  that  heareth  these 
sayings  of  Mine  and  doeth  them  not,  shall  be  likened 
unto  a  foolish  man  who  built  his  house  upon"  "the 
ground  without  a  foundation  "  (Matt.  vii.  24,  26  ;  Luke 
vi.  46-49). 

"  The  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  the  glory  of  His  Father, 
....  and  then  He  shall  render  unto  every  man  accord- 
ing to  his  deeds  "  (Matt.  xvi.  27). 

"  The  kingdom  of  God  shall  be  taken  away  from  you  and 
shall  be  given  to  a  nation  bringing  forth  the  fruits 
thereof  "  (Matt.  xxi.  43). 

Jesus  said,  "  My  mother  and  My  brethren  are  these  who 
hear  the  Word  of  God  and  do  it "  (Luke  viii.  21). 

"  Then  shall  ye  begin  to  stand  without  and  to  knock  at 


CHAPTER    VL,  N.  1 28  145 

the  door,  saying,  Lord, . .  open  unto  us  ;  but  He  shall 
answer  and  say  "  to  them,  "  I  know  ye  not  whence  ye 

are  ; depart  from  Me,  all  ye  workers  of  iniquity  " 

(Luke  xiii.  25-27). 

"  They  that  have  done  good  shall  go  forth  unto  the  resur- 
rection of  life,  and  they  that  have  done  evil  unto  the 
resurrection  of  judgment "  (John  v.  29). 

"  We  know  that  God  heareth  not  sinners  ;  but  if  anyone 
worship  God  and  do  His  will,  him  He  heareth  "  (John 
ix.  31). 

11  If  ye  know  these  things,  blessed  are  ye  if  ye  do  them  " 
(John  xiii.  17). 

"  He  that  hath  My  commandments  and  doeth  them,  he 

it  is  that  loveth  Me and  I  will  love  him  ....  and 

will  come  to  him  and  make  My  abode  with  him" 
(John  xiv.  15,  21-24). 

"  Ye  are  My  friends  if  ye  do  whatsoever  I  command  you. 
....  I  have  chosen  you.... that  ye  may  bring  forth 
fruit,  and  that  your  fruit  may  abide  "  (John  xv.  14,  16). 

The  Lord  said  to  John,  "  To  the  angel  of  th  Ephesian 
church  write, ...  I  know  thy  works  ;....!  have  against 

thee  that  thou  hast  left  thy  first  charity Repent, 

and  do  the  first  works ;  if  not ....  I  will  remove  thy 
lampstand  out  of  its  place  "  (Apoc.  ii.  I,  2,  4,  5). 

"To  the  angel  of  the  church  of  the  Smyrneans  write 

I  know  thy  works"  (Apoc.  ii.  8,  9). 

"  To  the  angel  of  the  church  at  Pergamum  write, ....  I 
know  thy  works,  repent"  (Apoc.  ii.  12,  13,  16). 

"To  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Thyatira  write,  ....I 

know  thy  works  and  charity, and  thy  last  works  to 

be  more  than  the  first"  (Apoc.  ii.  18,  19). 

"  To  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Sardis  write, ....  I  know 
thy  works,  that  thou  hast  a  name  and  that  thou  liv- 

est,  and  art  dead I  have  not  found  thy  works 

perfect  before  God  ;  . . . .  repent "  (Apoc.  iii.  1-3). 

"  To  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Philadelphia  write,  I 
know  thy  works  "  (Apoc.  iii.  7,  8). 

"  To  the  angel  of  the  church  of  the  Laodiceans  write,  .... 
I  know  thy  works  ; .  . . .  repent "  (Apoc.  iii.  14,  15,  19). 

"  I  heard  a  voice  from  the  heavens  saying,  Write, . . .  Bless- 
ed are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord  from  henceforth  ; 
....  their  works  do  follow  them  "  (Apoc.  xiv.  13). 

"  A  book  was  opened,  which  is  the  book  of  life  ;  and  the 


146  THE  THPINE  'PROVIDENCE 

dead  were  judged all  according  to  their  works  " 

(Apoc.  xx.  12,  13). 

"  Behold,  I  come  quickly  ;  and  My  reward  is  with  Me,  to 
give  to  every  man  according  to  his  work  "  (Apoc.  xxii. 
12). 

Thus  far  the  New  Testament.  Still  more  numerous 
are  the  evidences  in  the  Old  Testament,  from  which 
I  will  quote  this  one  only : 

"Stand  in  the  gate of  Jehovah,  and  proclaim  there 

this  word Thus  saith  Jehovah  of  Hosts,  the  God 

of  Israel :   Amend  your  ways  and  your  doings  ; 

trust  ye  not  in  lying  words,  saying,  The  temple  of  Je- 
hovah, the  temple  of  Jehovah,  the  temple  of  Jehovah 

are  these Will  ye  steal,  murder,  and   commit 

adultery,  and  swear  falsely,  ....  and  then  come  and 
stand  before  Me  in  this  house,  upon  which  My  name 
is  named,  and  say,  We  are  delivered,  while  ye  do  .... 
these  abominations  ?  Is  this  house  ....  become  a  den 
of  robbers?  ....  Behold  I,  even  I,  have  seen  it,  saith 
Jehovah"  (Jer.  vii.  2-4,  9-11). 


VII. 


IT  IS  A  LAW  OF  THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  THAT  MAN  SHOULD 
NOT  BE  COMPELLED  BY  EXTERNAL  MEANS  TO  THINK 
AND  WILL,  AND  THUS  TO  BELIEVE  AND  LOVE,  THE 
THINGS  OF  RELIGION,  BUT  SHOULD  GUIDE  HIMSELF, 
AND  SOMETIMES  COMPEL  HIMSELF. 

129. 

THIS  law  of  the  Divine  providence  follows 
from  the  two  preceding,  namely,  that  man 
should  acl:  from  freedom  in  accordance  with 
reason  (n.  71-99)  ;  and  that  he  should  do  this  from 
himself  and  yet  from  the  Lord,  therefore  as  if  from 
himself  (n.  100—128).  And  as  being  compelled  is 
not  from  freedom  in  accordance  with  reason,  and 
not  from  oneself,  but  is  from  what  is  not  freedom, 
and  from  another,  so  this  law  of  the  Divine  provid- 
ence follows  in  order  after  the  two  former.  Every- 
one acknowledges,  moreover,  that  it  is  impossible 
to  compel  any  one  to  think  what  he  is  not  willing  to 
think,  and  to  will  what  his  thought  forbids  him  to 
will,  thus  to  believe  what  he  does  not  believe,  and 
wholly  so  what  he  is  unwilling  to  believe  ;  or  to  love 
what  he  does  not  love,  and  wholly  so  what  he  is 
unwilling  to  love.  For  a  man's  spirit  or  mind  has 
full  liberty  in  thinking,  willing,  believing,  and  lov- 
ing. It  has  this  liberty  by  influx  from  the  spiritual 
world,  which  does  not  compel  (for  man's  spirit  or 
mind  is  in  that  world),  and  not  by  influx  from  the 


148  THE  *DIVINE   TROV1DEHCE 

natural  world,  which  is  received  only  when  it  acls 
in  harmony  with  spiritual  influx. 

A  man  may  be  forced  to  say  that  he  thinks  and 
wills  and  believes  and  loves  the  things  of  religion  ; 
but  he  does  not  think,  will,  believe,  and  love  them 
unless  they  are  matters  of  affeclion  and  reason  with 
him,  or  come  to  be  so.  Also,  a  man  may  be  com- 
pelled to  speak  in  favor  of  religion  and  to  do  what 
it  inculcates ;  but  he  cannot  be  compelled  to  favor 
it  in  his  thought  from  any  belief  in  it,  or  to  favor 
it  in  his  will  from  any  love  for  it.  Moreover,  in 
kingdoms  where  justice  and  judgment  are  guarded, 
men  are  compelled  not  to  speak  against  religion, 
and  to  do  nothing  in  opposition  to  it,  and  yet  no 
one  can  be  compelled  to  favor  it  in  his  thought  and 
will.  For  it  is  within  every  one's  freedom  to  think 
in  harmony  with  hell  and  to  will  in  favor  of  hell, 
and  also  to  favor  heaven  in  thought  and  will.  But 
it  is  for  the  reason  to  teach  what  hell  is  and  wrhat 
heaven  is,  and  what  the  abiding  condition  is  in  the 
one  and  in  the  other ;  and  it  is  from  the  reason 
that  the  will  has  its  preference  and  choice. 

From  all  this  it  can  be  seen  that  the  external 
may  not  compel  the  internal.  Nevertheless,  this  is 
sometimes  done ;  but  that  it  is  pernicious  will  be 
shown  in  this  order : 

(i.)    No  one  is  reformed  by  miracles  and  signs, 

because  they  compel. 

(ii.)  No  one  is  reformed  by  visions  or  by  convers- 
ations with  the  dead,  ce  cause  they  ccm- 
pel. 


CHAPTER   VII.,  N.  I  JO  149 

(iii.)  No  one  is  reformed  by  threats  and  punish- 
ments, because  they  compel. 

(iv.)  No  one  is .  reformed  in  states  that  do  not 
spring  from  rationality  and  liberty. 

(v.)  To  compel  oneself  is  not  contrary  to  ration- 
ality and  liberty. 

(vi.)  The  external  man  must  be  reformed  by 
means  of  the  internal,  and  not  the  reverse. 

130.  (i.)  No  one  is  reformed  by  miracles  and  * 
signs,  because  they  compel. — It  has  been  shown 
above  that  man  has  an  internal  and  an  external  of 
thought,  and  that  the  Lord  flows  into  man  through 
the  internal  of  his  thought  into  the  external,  and 
thus  teaches  and  leads  him ;  also  that  it  is  of  the 
Lord's  Divine  providence  that  man  should  a<5l  from 
freedom  in  accordance  with  reason.  Both  oi  these 
would  perish  in  man  if  miracles  were  wrought  and 
man  were  thereby  driven  to  believe.  That  this  is 
true  can  be  seen  rationally  in  this  way.  It  cannot 
be  denied  that  miracles  induce  a  belief  and  power- 
fully persuade  that  what  is  said  and  taught  by  him 
who  does  the  miracles  is  true,  and  that  this  at  first 
so  occupies  man's  external  thought  as  to  bind  and 
fascinate  it,  as  it  were.  But  by  this  man  is  deprived 
of  his  two  faculties  called  rationality  and  liberty, 
and  thus  of  the  ability  to  act  from  freedom  in  ac- 
cordance with  reason  ;  and  then  the  Lord  can  no 
longer  flow  in  through  the  internal  into  the  exter- 
nal of  his  thought,  except  merely  to  leave  the  man 
to  confirm  by  his  rationality  what  he  has  been  made 
through  the  miracle  to  believe. 

Man's  thought  is   so  conditioned  as  to  .  enable 


150  THE  <DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

him  from  the  internal  of  his  thought  to  see  any 
matter  in  the  external  of  his  thought  as  in  a  sort  of 
mirror ;  for,  as  has  been  said  above,  a  man  is  able 
to  see  his  own  thought,  which  would  not  be  possi- 
ble except  from  a  more  internal  thought.  And 
when  he  thus  sees  a  matter  as  in  a  mirror  he  can 
turn  it  this  way  and  that,  and  shape  it  until  it  ap- 
pears to  him  beautiful ;  and  if  the  matter  is  a  truth 
it  may  be  likened  to  a  virgin  or  youth,  beautiful  and 
living.  But  when  one  cannot  turn  it  this  way  and 
that,  and  shape  it,  but  can  simply  believe  it  from 
the  persuasion  induced  by  the  miracle,  it  may  be 
likened,  if  it  is  a  truth,  to  a  virgin  or  a  youth 
carved  from  wood  or  stone,  in  which  there  is  no  life. 
It  may  also  be  likened  to  an  objecl  that  is  constantly 
before  the  sight,  and  being  alone  seen  conceals 
every  thing  that  is  on  either  side  of  it  and  behind  it. 
Or  it  may  be  likened  to  a  sound  continually  in  the 
ear  that  takes  away  the  sense  of  harmony  from 
many  sounds.  Such  blindness  and  deafness  are  in- 
duced on  the  human  mind  by  miracles.  It  is  the 
same  with  every  thing  confirmed  that  is  not  looked 
into  with  some  rationality  before  it  is  confirmed. 

131.  From  all  this  it  can  be  seen  that  a  faith 
induced  by  miracles  is  not  faith  but  persuasion  ;  for 
there  is  nothing  rational  in  it,  still  less  anything 
spiritual ;  for  it  is  only  an  external  without  an  in- 
ternal. The  same  is  true  of  every  thing  that  a  man 
does  from  such  a  persuasive  faith,  whether  he  ac- 
knowledges God,  worships  him  at  home  or  in 
churches,  or  does  good  deeds.  When  a  miracle 


CHAPTER   VIL,  N.   I}2  151 

alone  leads  a  man  to  acknowledgment,  worship, 
and  piety,  he  acts  from  the  natural  man  and  not 
from  the  spiritual.  For  a  miracle  imparts  faith 
through  an  external  way  and  not  through  an  in- 
ternal way,  thus  from  the  world  and  not  from 
heaven  ;  and  the  Lord  enters  into  man  through  no 
other  than  an  internal  way,  which  is  through  the 
Word,  and  doclrine  and  preachings  from  the  Word. 
And  as  miracles  close  this  way,  at  this  day  no  mir- 
acles are  wrought. 

132.  That  miracles  are  such  can  be  seen  very 
clearly  from  the  miracles  wrought  before  the  peo- 
ple of  Judah  and  Israel.  Although  these  had  seen 
so  many  miracles  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  after- 
wards at  the  Red  Sea,  and  others  in  the  desert, 
and  especially  on  Mount  Sinai  when  the  Law  was 
promulgated,  yet  only  a  month  afterwards,  while 
Moses  tarried  on  that  mountain,  they  made  them- 
selves a  golden  calf,  and  acknowledged  it  as  Jeho- 
vah who  led  them  forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt 
(Exod.  xxxii.  4-6).  So  again,  from  the  miracles 
afterwards  wrought  in  the  land  of  Canaan  ;  and  yet 
the  people  relapsed  each  time  from  the  prescribed 
worship.  And  again,  from  the  miracles  that  the 
Lord  wrought  before  them  when  he  was  in  the 
world ;  and  yet  they  crucified  Him. 

Miracles  were  wrought  among  the  men  of  Judah 
and  Israel  because  they  were  wholly  external  men, 
and  were  led  into  the  land  of  Canaan  merely  that 
they  might  represent  the  church  and  its  internals 
by  means  of  the  externals  of  worship,  a  bad  man 


152  'THE  ^DIVINE  ^PROVIDENCE 

equally  with  a  good  man  being  able  to  represent. 
These  externals  are  rituals,  all  of  which  were  signi- 
ficative of  spiritual  and  celestial  things.  Even 
Aaron,  although  he  made  the  golden  calf  and  com- 
manded the  worship  of  it  {Exod.  xxxii.  2-5,  35), 
could  represent  the  Lord  and  His  work  of  salvation. 
And  because  they  could  not  be  brought  by  the 
internals  of  worship  to  represent  those  things,  they 
were  brought  to  it  and  even  driven  and  forced  to 
it  by  miracles. 

They  could  not  be  brought  to  it  by  the  internals 
of  worship  because  they  did  not  acknowledge  the 
Lord,  although  the  whole  Word  that  was  in  their 
possession  treats  of  Him  alone ;  and  he  that  does 
not  acknowledge  the  Lord  is  unable  to  receive  any 
internal  of  worship.  But  when  the  Lord  had  man- 
ifested Himself,  and  had  been  received  and  acknow- 
ledged in  the  churches  as  the  eternal  God,  mira- 
cles ceased. 

133.  But  the  effecl;  of  miracles  on  the  good  and 
on  the  evil  is  different.  The  good  do  not  desire  mir- 
acles, but  they  believe  in  the  miracles  recorded  in  the 
Word.  And  when  they  hear  anything  about  a 
miracle  they  give  thought  to  it  only  as  an  argu- 
ment of  no  great  weight  that  confirms  their  faith ; 
for  they  think  from  the  Word,  thus  from  the  Lord, 
and  not  from  the  miracle.  It  is  not  so  with  the  evil. 
They  may  be  driven  and  compelled  to  a  belief  by 
miracles,  and  even  to  worship  and  piety,  but  only 
for  a  short  time  ;  for  their  evils  are  shut  in  ;  and  the 
lusts  of  their  evils  and  the  enjoyments  therefrom 


CHAPTER   Vll.,  N.  I }4  153 

continually  acl  upon  their  external  of  worship  and 
piety ;  and  in  order  to  get  out  of  their  confinement 
and  break  away  they  reflect  upon  the  miracle,  and 
at  length  call  it  a  trick  or  artifice,  or  a  work  of 
nature,  and  thus  go  back  to  their  evils.  And  he 
who  returns  to  his  evils  after  he  has  worshipped 
profanes  the  goods  and  truths  of  worship ;  and  the 
lot  after  death  of  those  who  commit  profanation  is 
the  worst  of  all  Such  as  these  are  meant  by  the 
Lord's  words  {Matt.  xii.  43-45),  that  their  last  state 
becomes  worse  than  the  first.  Furthermore,  if  it 
were  needful  to  work  miracles  for  the  sake  of  those 
who  do  not  believe  from  the  Word,  they  must  be 
wrought  for  all  such  continually  and  visibly.  All 
this  makes  clear  why  miracles  are  not  wrought  at 
this  day. 

134.  (ii.)  No  one  is  reformed  by  visions  or  by 
conversations  with  the  dead,  because  they  compel. — 
Visions  are  of  two  kinds,  Divine  and  diabolical. 
Divine  visions  are  produced  by  means  of  represent- 
ations in  heaven,  and  diabolical  visions  by  means 
of  magic  in  hell.  There  are  also  fantastic  visions, 
which  are  delusions  of  an  abstracted  mind.  Divine 
visions,  which  are  produced  (as  has  been  said)  by 
means  of  representations  in  heaven,  are  such  as 
the  prophets  had,  who  were  not  in  the  body  but 
in  the  spirit  when  they  were  in  these  visions ;  for 
visions  can  not  appear  to  any  one  in  the  waking 
states  of  the  body.  When,  therefore,  they  appear 
to  the  prophets  they  are  said  to  have  been  "  in  the 


154  THE  1)IYINE  'PROVIDENCE 

spirit,"  as  is  evident  from  the  passages  that  follow. 
Ezekiel  says : 

"  Moreover,  the  spirit  lifted  me  up,  and  brought  me  in 
the  vision  of  God,  in  the  spirit  of  God,  into  Chaldea, 
to  them  of  the  captivity.  So  the  vision  that  I  had 
seen  went  up  over  me  "  (Ezek.  xi.  i,  24). 

Again,  That  the  spirit  lifted  him  up  between  the  earth 
and  the  heaven,  and  brought  him  in  the  visions  of 
God  to  Jerusalem  (viii.  3,  seq.). 

In  like  manner  he  was  in  the  vision  of  God  or  in  the 
spirit  when  he  saw  the  four  living  creatures  which 
were  cherubim  (chaps,  i.  and  x.). 

As  also  when  he  saw  the  new  temple  and  the  new  earth, 
and  the  angel  measuring  them  (chaps,  xl.-xlviii.). 

That  he  was  then  in  the  visions  of  God  he  says 
(xl.  2,  26)  ;  and  in  the  spirit  (xliii.  5). 
In  a  like  state  was  Zechariah, 

When  he  saw  a  man  riding  among  the  myrtle  trees  (Zech. 

i.  8,  seq.); 
When  he  saw  four  horns  (i.  18);  and  a  man  in  whose 

hand  was  a  measuring  line  (ii.  1-3,  seq.) ; 
When  he  saw  a  lampstand  and  two  olive  trees  (iv.  i,  seq.) ; 
When  he  saw  the  flying  roll  and  the  ephah  (v.  i,  6) ; 
When  he  saw  four  chariots  coming  out  from  between 

two  mountains,  and  horses  (vi.  i,  seq.). 

In  a  like  state  was  Daniel, 

When  he  saw  four  beasts  coming  up  from  the  sea  (Dan. 

vii.  i,  seq.); 
When  he  saw  the  combat  between  a  ram  and  a  he-goat 

(viii.  i,  seq.). 

That  .he  saw  these  things  in  the  vision  of  his  spirit 
is  stated  (vii.  i,  2,  7,  13  ;  viii.  2  ;  x.  i,  7,  8)  ;  and  that 
the  angel  Gabriel  was  seen  by  him  in  vision  (ix. 

21). 


CHAPTER   Vll.,  N.  l}4  155 

John,  also,  was  in  the  vision  of  the  spirit  when 
he  saw  what  he  described  in  the  Apocalypse: 

As  when  he  saw  seven  lampstands,  and  in  their  midst 

the  Son  of  man  (i.  12-16)  ; 
When  he  saw  a  throne  in  heaven,  and  One  sitting  upon 

the  throne,  and  four  animals  which  were  cherubim 

round  about  it  (iv.)  ; 

When  he  saw  the  book  of  life  taken  by  the  Lamb  (v.) ; 
When  he  saw  horses  going  out  from  the  book  (vi.) ; 
When  he  saw  seven  angels  with  trumpets  (viii.) ; 
When  he  saw  the  pit  of  the  abyss  opened,  and  locusts 

going  out  of  it  (ix.) ; 
When  he  saw  the  dragon,  and  its  combat  with  Michael 

(xii.) ; 
When  he  saw  two  beasts,  one  rising  up  out  of  the  sea  and 

the  other  out  of  the  earth  (xiii.) ; 
When  he  saw  a  woman  sitting  upon  a  scarlet  colored 

beast  (xvii.) ; 

And  Babylon  destroyed  (xviii.) ; 
When  he  saw  a  white  horse  and  Him  who  sat  upon  it 

(xix.) ; 
And  when  he  saw  the  new  heaven  and  the  new  earth, 

and  the  Holy  Jerusalem  coming  down  out  of  heaven 

(xxi.)  ; 
And  when  he  saw  the  river  of  the  water  of  life  (xxii.). 

That  he  saw  these  things  in  the  vision  of  the  spirit 
is  said  (i.  10;  iv.  2 ;  v.  i  ;  vi.  i  ;  xxi.  i,  2). 

Such  were  the  visions  that  appeared  to  them 
from  heaven,  not  before  the  sight  of  the  body  but 
before  the  sight  of  the  spirit.  Such  visions  do  not 
take  place  at  the  present  day  ;  if  they  did  they  would 
not  be  understood,  because  they  are  produced  by 
means  of  representations,  each  one  of  which  is  signi- 
ficative of  the  internal  things  of  the  church  and  the 
arcana  of  heaven.  Moreover,  it  was  foretold  by 


156  THE  'DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

Daniel  (ix.  24)  that  they  would  cease  when  the  Lord 
came  into  the  world. 

But  diabolical  visions  have  sometimes  appeared, 
induced  by  enthusiatic  and  visionary  spirits,  who, 
from  the  delirium  that  possessed  them  called  them- 
selves the  Holy  Spirit.  But  these  spirits  have  now 
been  gathered  up  by  the  Lord  and  cast  into  a  hell 
separate  from  the  hells  of  others.  All  this  makes 
clear  that  by  no  other  visions  than  those  in  the 
Word  can  one  be  reformed.  There  are  also  fan- 
tastic visions ;  but  these  are  mere  delusions  of  an 
abstracted  mind. 

1344*.  That  no  one  is  reformed  by  conversa- 
tions with  the  dead  is  evident  from  the  Lord's  words 
respecting  the  rich  man  in  hell  and  Lazarus  in 
Abraham's  bosom  ;  for  the  rich  man  said, 

"  I  pray  thee,  father  "  Abraham,  "  that  them  wouldst  send  " 
Lazarus  "  to  my  father's  house,  for  I  have  five  breth- 
ren, that  he  may  testify  unto  them,  lest  they  also 
come  unto  this  place  of  torment.  Abraham  said 
unto  him,  They  have  Moses  and  the  Prophets,  let 
them  hear  them.  And  he  said,  Nay,  father  Abra- 
ham ;  but  if  one  come  to  them  from  the  dead  they 
will  repent.  And  he  answered  him,  If  they  hear  not 
Moses  and  the  Prophets,  neither  will  they  be  per- 
suaded if  one  rise  from  the  dead  "  (Luke  xvi.  27-31). 

Conversation  with  the  dead  would  have  the  same 
effect  as  miracles,  of  which  just  above,  namely,  man 
would  be  persuaded  and  forced  into  a  state  of  wor- 
ship for  a  short  time.  But  as  man  is  thus  deprived 
of  rationality,  and  at  the  same  time  evils  are  shut 
in,  as  said  above,  this  spell  or  internal  bond  is  loosed, 
and  the  evils  that  have  been  shut  in  break  out,  with 


CHAPTER  VIL,  N.  136  157 

blasphemy  and  profanation.  But  this  takes  place 
only  when  some  dogma  of  religion  has  been  im- 
posed upon  the  mind  by  spirits,  which  is  never 
done  by  any  good  spirit,  still  less  by  any  angel  of 
heaven. 

I35"  Nevertheless,  conversation  with  spirits  is 
possible  (though  rarely  with  the  angels  of  heaven)  ; 
and  this  has  been  granted  to  many  for  ages  back. 
When  it  is  granted  the  spirits  speak  with  man  in 
his  mother  tongue,  and  only  a  few  words.  But  those 
who  speak  by  the  Lord's  permission  never  say  any 
thing  that  takes  away  the  freedom  of  the  reason, 
nor  do  they  teach  ;  for  the  Lord  alone  teaches  man, 
but  mediately  by  means  of  the  Word  when  in  a 
state  of  enlightenment,  of  which  hereafter.  That  this 
is  true  it  has  been  granted  me  to  know  by  personal 
experience.  For  several  years  I  have  talked  with 
spirits  and  with  angels  ;  nor  has  any  spirit  dared  or 
any  angel  wished  to  tell  me  any  thing,  still  less  to 
instruct  me,  about  any  matter  in  the  Word,  or  about 
any  matter  of  doclrine  from  the  Word  ;  but  I  have 
been  taught  by  the  Lord  alone,  who  was  revealed  to 
me,  and  who  has  since  appeared  and  now  appears 
constantly  before  my  eyes  as  a  Sun  in  which  He  is, 
in  the  same  way  that  He  appears  to  the  angels,  and 
has  enlightened  me. 

136.  (iii. )  No  one  is  reformed  by  threats  and 
punishments )  because  they ,  compel. — It  is  acknow- 
ledged that  the  external  cannot  compel  the  inter- 
nal, but  that  the  internal  can  compel  the  external  ; 


158  THE  'DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

also  that  the  internal  is  so  averse  to  compulsion  by 
the  external  that  it  turns  itself  away.  It  is  also 
acknowledged  that  external  enjoyments  allure  the 
internal  to  consent  and  love ;  and  it  may  be  known 
that  a  compelled  internal  and  a  free  internal  are 
possible.  But  although  all  these  things  are  acknow- 
ledged, they  nevertheless  need  illustration  ;  for  many 
things  when  they  are  heard,  being  true,  are  at  once 
perceived  to  be  so,  and  are  therefore  assented  to ; 
but  unless  they  are  also  corroborated  by  reasons 
they  may  be  disproved  by  arguments  from  fallacies, 
and  at  last  denied.  Therefore  the  things  just  stated 
as  acknowledged  must  be  taken  up  and  rationally 
established. 

First,  The  external  cannot  compel  the  internal, 
but  the  internal  can  compel  the  external. — Who  can 
be  compelled  to  believe  and  to  love?  One  can  no 
more  be  compelled  to  believe  than  to  think  that  a 
thing  is  so  when  he  thinks  that  it  is  not  so ;  and 
one  can  no  more  be  compelled  to  love  than  to  will 
what  he  does  not  will.  Belief  belongs  to  thought, 
and  love  belongs  to  the  will.  But  the  internal  may 
be  compelled  by  the  external  not  to  speak  ill  of  the 
laws  of  the  kingdom,  the  moralities  of  life,  and  the 
sandities  of  the  church ;  thus  far  the  internal  may 
be  compelled  by  threats  and  punishments ;  and  it 
is  so  compelled  and  ought  to  be.  This  internal, 
however,  is  not  the  striclly  human  internal ;  it  is 
an  internal  that  man  has  in  common  with  beasts ; 
and  beasts  can  be  compelled.  The  human  internal 
has  its  seat  above  this  animal  internal.  It  is  this 


CHAPTER   V1L,  N.  1)6  159 

human  internal  that  is  here  meant,  and  that  cannot 
be  compelled. 

Secondly,  The  internal  is  so  averse  to  compul- 
sion by  the  external  that  it  turns  itself  away. — This 
is  because  the  internal  wishes  to  be  in  freedom, 
and  loves  freedom,  for  freedom  belongs  to  man's 
love  or  life,  as  has  been  shown  above  ;  consequently 
when  freedom  feels  itself  to  be  compelled  it  with- 
draws as  it  were  within  itself  and  turns  itself  away, 
and  looks  upon  compulsion  as  its  enemy ;  for  the 
love  that  constitutes  man's  life  is  irritated,  andu 
causes  the  man  to  think  that  in  this  respecl  he  is 
not  his  own,  and  therefore  does  not  live  for  himself. 
Man's  internal  is  such  from  the  law  of  the  Lord's 
Divine  providence  that  man  should  acl;  from  free- 
dom in  accordance  with  reason. 

From  this  it  is  clear  that  to  compel  men  to 
Divine  worship  by  threats  and  punishments  is  per- 
nicious. But  there  are  some  who  suffer  themselves 
to  be  compelled  in  respecl;  to  religion,  and  some 
who  do  not.  Of  those  who  suffer  themselves  to  be 
so  compelled  there  are  many  within  the  papal  juris- 
diction ;  but  this  takes  place  with  those  in  whose 
worship  there  is  nothing  internal,  but  all  is  external. 
Of  those  who  do  not  suffer  themselves  to  be  com- 
pelled there  are  many  of  the  English  nation ;  and 
as  a  consequence  of  this  there  is  in  their  worship 
an  internal,  and  what  there  is  in  the  external  is 
from  their  internal.  In  regard  to  their  religion  their 
interiors  appear  in  spiritual  light  like  bright  clouds  ; 
while  the  interiors  of  the  former  appear  in  the  light 


160  THE  DIVINE 

of  heaven  like  dark  clouds.  These  appearances  are 
presented  to  sight  in  the  spiritual  world,  and  will 
be  seen  by  any  one  who  wishes  to  see  them  when 
he  comes  into  that  world  after  death.  Furthermore, 
compelled  worship  shuts  in  evils,  and  evils  then  lie 
hidden  like  fire  in  wood  under  ashes,  which  is  con- 
tinually kindling  and  spreading  till  it  breaks  out  in 
flames ;  while  worship  not  compelled,  but  sponta- 
neous, does  not  shut  evils  in,  and  in  consequence 
they  are  like  fires  that  blaze  up  quickly  and  are 
gone.  All  this  makes  clear  that  the  internal  is  so 
averse  to  compulsion  that  it  turns  itself  away.  The 
internal  can  compel  the  external,  because  the  internal 
is  like  a  master,  and  the  external  like  a  servant. 

Thirdly,  External  enjoyments  allure  the  internal 
to  consent,  and  also  to  love. — There  are  two  kinds 
of  enjoyments,  enjoyments  of  the  understanding  and 
enjoyments  of  the  will ;  those  of  the  understanding 
are  also  enjoyments  of  wisdom,  and  those  of  the 
will  are  also  enjoyments  of  love;  for  wisdom  be- 
longs to  the  understanding,  and  love  to  the  will. 
And  inasmuch  as  the  enjoyments  of  the  body  and  its 
senses,  which  are  external  enjoyments,  a6l  as  one 
with  the  internal  enjoyments  which  belong  to  the 
understanding  and  the  will,  it  follows  that  while  the 
internal  is  so  averse  to  compulsion  by  the  external 
as  to  turn  itself  away  from  it,  it  also  looks  with  such 
favor  on  enjoyments  in  the  external  as  even  to  turn 
itself  to  it ;  thus  on  the  part  of  the  understanding 
there  is  consent,  and  on  the  part  of  the  will  there  is 
love. 


CHAPTER    V1L,  N.  1}6  161 

In  the  spiritual  world  all  children  are  led  by  the 
Lord  into  angelic  wisdom,  and  through  that  into 
heavenly  love,  by  means  of  things  enjoyable  and 
pleasing ;  first  by  means  of  beautiful  things  in  their 
homes,  and  by  means  of  pleasing  things  in  gardens  ; 
then  by  means  of  representatives  of  spiritual  things, 
which  affecl;  the  interiors  of  their  minds  with  pleas- 
ure ;  and  finally  by  means  of  truths  of  wisdom,  and 
so  by  means  of  goods  of  love.  Thus  this  is  done 
successively  by  means  of  enjoyments  in  their  order ; 
first  by  means  of  the  enjoyments  of  the  love  of  the 
understanding  and  of  its  wisdom  ;  and  finally  by 
the  enjoyments  of  the  will's  love,  which  becomes 
their  life's  love ;  and  to  this  all  other  things  that 
have  entered  by  means  of  enjoyments  are  held  sub- 
ordinate. 

This  takes  place  because  everything  of  the  un- 
derstanding and  will  must  be  formed  by  means  of 
what  is  external  before  it  is  formed  by  the  means 
of  what  is  internal ;  since  everything  of  the  under- 
standing and  will  is  first  formed  by  means  of  what 
enters  through  the  senses  of  the  body,  especially 
through  the  sight  and  hearing ;  and  when  the  first 
understanding  and  first  will  have  been  formed,  the 
internal  of  thought  looks  upon  these  as  the  exter- 
nals of  its  thought,  and  either  conjoins  itself  with 
them  or  separates  itself  from  them.  It  conjoins  it- 
self with  them  if  they  are  delightful  to  it,  and  it 
separates  itself  from  them  if  they  are  not. 

But  it  must  be  clearly  understood  that  the  inter- 
nal of  the  understanding  does  not  conjoin  itself  with 


162  THE  'DIVINE  ^PROVIDENCE 

the  internal  of  the  will,  but  ttyat  the  internal  of  the 
will  conjoins  itself  with  the  internal  of  the  under- 
standing, and  makes  the  conjunction  to  be  recip- 
rocal ;  but  this  is  done  by  the  internal  of  the  will, 
and  not  in  the  least  by  the  internal  of  the  under- 
standing. This  is  the  reason  why  man  cannot  be 
formed  by  means  of  faith  alone,  but  only  by  means 
of  the  will's  love,  which  makes  a  faith  for  itself. 

Fourthly,  A  compelled  internal  and  a  free  inter- 
nal are  possible. — A  compelled  internal  is  possible 
in  such  as  are  in  external  worship  only  and  in  no 
internal  worship  ;  for  their  internal  consists  in  think- 
ing and  willing  that  to  which  the  external  is  com- 
pelled. Such  is  the  state  of  those  who  worship 
men  living  and  dead,  and  thus  worship  idols,  and 
whose  faith  is  based  on  miracles.  In  such  no  in- 
ternal is  possible  except  what  is  at  the  same  time 
external.  A  compelled  internal  is  also  possible  in 
such  as  are  in  the  internal  of  worship.  It  may  be 
an  internal  compelled  by  fear  or  an  internal  com- 
pelled by  love.  Those  have  an  internal  compelled 
by  fear  who  are  in  worship  from  a  fear  of  the  tor- 
ment of  hell  and  its  fire.  Such  an  internal,  how- 
ever, is  not  the  internal  of  thought  before  treated 
of,  but  is  the  external  of  thought,  and  is  here  called 
an  internal  because  it  belongs  to  thought.  The  in- 
ternal of  thought  before  treated  of  cannot  be  com- 
pelled by  any  fear ;  but  it  can  be  compelled  by  love 
and  by  a  fear  of  losing  love.  In  its  true  sense  the 
fear  of  God  is  nothing  else.  To  be  compelled  by 
love  and  a  fear  of  losing  it  is  to  compel  oneself. 


CHAPTER   VIL,  N.  I}8  163 

That  compelling  oneself  is  not  contrary  to  liberty 
and  rationality  will  be  seen  below. 

137.  All  this  makes  clear  what  compelled  wor- 
ship is  and  what  worship  not  compelled  is.     Com- 
pelled worship  is  corporeal,  lifeless,  darkened,  and 
sad;  corporeal  because  it  is  of  the  body  and  not 
of  the  mind,  lifeless  because  there   is  no  life  in  it, 
darkened  because  there  is  no  understanding  in  it, 
and  sad  because  there  is  no  enjoyment  of  heaven 
in  it.     But  worship  not  compelled,  when  it  is  gen- 
uine, is  spiritual,  living,  clear,  and  joyful ;  spiritual 
because  there  is  spirit  from  the  Lord  in  it,  living  be- 
cause there  is  life  from  the  Lord  in  it,  clear  because 
there  is  wisdom  from  the  Lord  in  it,  and  joyful  be- 
cause there  is  heaven  from  the  Lord  in  it. 

138.  (iv.)  No  one  is  reformed  in  states  that  do 
not   spring  from   rationality  and  liberty. — It    has 
been  shown  above  that  nothing  is  appropriated  to 
man  except  what  he  does  from  freedom  in  accord- 
ance with  reason.     This  is  because  freedom  belongs 
to  the  will  and  reason  to  the  understanding ;  and 
when  man  acls  from  freedom  in  accordance  with 
reason  he  acts  from  the  will  by  means  of  his  under- 
standing ;  and  whatever  is  done  in  a  conjunction  of 
these  two  is  appropriated.     Since,  then,  it  is  the 
Lord's  will  that  man  should  be  reformed  and  regen- 
erated, that  he  may  have  eternal  life  or  the  life  of 
heaven,  and  no  one  can  be  reformed  and  regener- 
ated unless  good  is  so  appropriated  to  his  will  as 
to  be  as  if  it  were  his,  and  truth  is  so  appropriated 


164  THE  <D/F/N£  TRO'/IDENCE 

to  his  understanding  as  to  be  as  if  it  were  his,  and 
since  nothing  can  be  appropriated  to  any  one  except 
what  is  done  from  freedom  of  the  will  in  accordance 
with  the  reason  of  the  understanding,  it  follows  that 
no  one  is  reformed  in  states  that  do  not  spring  from 
liberty  and  rationality.  These  states  are  many,  but 
in  general  they  may  be  referred  to  the  following, 
namely  :  states  of  fear,  of  misfortune,  of  disordered 
mind,  of  bodily  disease,  of  ignorance,  and  of  blind- 
ness of  the  understanding.  Something  shall  be  said 
of  each  state  in  particular. 

139.  No  one  is  reformed  in  a  state  of  fear, 
because  fear  takes  away  freedom  and  reason,  or 
liberty  and  rationality ;  for  while  love  opens  the  in- 
teriors of  the  mind  fear  closes  them  ;  and  when  they 
are  closed  man  thinks  but  little,  and  only  of  what 
then  presents  itself  to  the  mind  or  the  senses.  Such 
is  the  effecT:  of  all  fears  that  take  possession  of  the 
mind. 

It  has  been  shown  above  that  man  has  an  inter- 
nal and  an  external  of  thought ;  fear  can  in  no  wise 
take  possession  of  the  internal  of  thought ;  this  is 
always  in  freedom  because  in  its  life's  love ;  but  it 
can  take  possession  of  the  external  of  thought,  and 
when  it  does  this  the  internal  of  thought  is  closed  ; 
and  when  that  is  closed  man  can  no  longer  acl  from 
freedom  in  accordance  with  his  reason,  and  there- 
fore cannot  be  reformed. 

The  fear  that  takes  possession  of  the  external  of 
thought  and  closes  the  internal  is  chiefly  a  fear  of 
the  loss  of  honor  or  gain.  The  internal  of  thought 


CHAPTER    V1L,  N.  139  165 

is  not  closed  by  a  fear  of  civil  punishments  or  of 
external  ecclesiastical  punishments,  because  such 
laws  only  prescribe  penalties  for  those  who  speak 
and  acl:  contrary  to  the  civil  interests  of  the  king- 
dom and  the  spiritual  interests  of  the  church,  and 
not  for  those  who  merely  think  in  opposition  to 
them. 

A  fear  of  infernal  punishments  may  take  posses- 
sion of  the  external  of  thought,  but  only  for  a  few 
moments  or  hours  or  days ;  it  is  soon  brought  back 
to  its  freedom  from  the  internal  of  thought,  which 
belongs  strictly  to  its  spirit  and  its  life's  love,  and  is 
called  the  thought  of  the  heart. 

But  a  fear  of  the  loss  of  honor  and  gain  takes 
possession  of  the  external  of  man's  thought ;  and 
when  it  does  this  it  closes  the  internal  of  thought 
from  above  against  influx  from  heaven,  and  makes 
it  impossible  for  man  to  be  reformed.  This  is  be- 
cause every  man's  life's  love  from  his  birth  is  a  love 
of  self  and  the  world ;  and  the  love  of  self  makes 
one  with  the  love  of  honor,  and  the  love  of  the 
world  makes  one  with  the  love  of  gain.  When, 
therefore,  a  man  has  gained  honor  or  wealth,  from 
a  fear  of  losing  them  he  strengthens  with  himself 
the  means  that  are  serviceable  to  him  for  honor 
and  gain,  whether  civil  or  ecclesiastical,  both  of 
which  are  means  of  power.  One  who  has  not  yet 
gained  honor  and  wealth  does  the  same  if  he  de- 
sires them  ;  but  he  does  it  from  a  fear  of  the  loss 
of  reputation  on  their  account. 

It  is  said  that  such  fear  takes  possession  of  the 


166  THE  nHYlNE  ^PROVIDENCE 


external  of  thought,  and  closes  the  internal  from 
above  against  influx  from  heaven.  The  internal  is 
said  to  be  closed  when  it  completely  makes  one  with 
the  external,  for  it  is  not  then  in  itself  but  in  the 
external. 

And  inasmuch  as  the  loves  of  self  and  the  world 
are  infernal  loves,  and  are  the  fountain  heads  of  all 
evils,  it  is  clear  what  the  internal  of  thought  is  in 
itself  in  those  in  whom  these  loves  are  the  loves 
of  the  life,  or  in  whom  these  loves  rule,  namely, 
that  it  is  full  of  the  lusts  of  evil  of  every  kind. 
This  is  not  known  to  those  who  from  a  fear  of 
the  loss  of  dignity  and  wealth  hold  fast  to  the 
religion  they  accept,  especially  if  the  religion  in- 
volves their  worship  as  deities,  and  also  as  having 
supreme  power  over  hell.  Such  may  seem  to  be 
in  a  blaze  of  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  souls,  and 
yet  this  may  be  from  an  infernal  fire.  As  such  a 
fear  especially  takes  away  rationality  itself  and  lib- 
erty itself,  which  are  heavenly  in  their  origin,  it  is 
evidently  a  hindrance  to  man's  ability  to  be  re- 
formed. 

140*  No  one  is  reformed  in  a  state  of  misfor- 
tune, if  he  thinks  of  God  and  implores  His  aid  only 
in  that  state,  because  that  is  a  compelled  state  ; 
consequently  as  soon  as  he  comes  into  a  free  state 
he  goes  back  to  his  former  state,  in  which  he 
had  thought  little  or  nothing  about  God.  It  is 
otherwise  with  those  who  in  their  former  state  had 
freely  feared  God.  By  '  '  fearing  God  '  '  is  meant 
fearing  to  offend  Him,  "  off  ending  God"  meaning 


CHAPTER   VII.,  N.  142  167 

to  sin.  This  fear  is  not  so  much  a  matter  of  fear 
as  of  love,  for  when  one  loves  another  does  he  not 
fear  to  do  him  wrong?  And  does  he  not  fear  this 
the  more,  the  more  he  loves  ?  Without  such  a  fear 
love  is  insipid  and  superficial,  a  mere  matter  of 
the  thought  and  not  at  all  of  the  will. 

By  " states  of  misfortune"  are  meant  states  of 
despair  from  danger,  as  in  battles,  duels,  shipwrecks, 
falls,  fires,  threatened  or  unexpected  loss  of  wealth 
or  of  office  and  thus  of  honors,  and  other  like 
things.  To  think  of  God  only  when  in  such  dan- 
gers is  not  from  God  but  from  self.  For  the  mind 
is  then  as  it  were  imprisoned  in  the  body ;  thus 
not  at  liberty,  and  therefore  not  in  rationality ;  and 
apart  from  these  no  reformation  is  possible. 

141.  No   one  is    reformed  in  unhealthy  men- 
tal states^  because  these  take  away  rationality,  and 
consequently  the  freedom  to  act  in  accordance  with 
reason.     For  the  mind  may  be  sick  and  unsound  ; 
and  while  a  sound  mind  is  rational  a  sick  mind  is 
not.    Such  unhealthy  mental  states  are  melancholy, 
a   spurious   or   false   conscience,    hallucinations   of 
various  kinds,  grief  of  mind  from  misfortunes,  and 
anxieties  and  mental  suffering  from  a  vitiated  con- 
dition of  the  body.     These  are  sometimes  regarded 
as    temptations,   but    they   are    not.     For   genuine 
temptations  have  as  their  objects  things  spiritual, 
and   in  these  the  mind    is   wise ;    but   these  states 
have  as  their  objects  natural  things,  and  in  these 
the  mind  is  unhealthy. 

142.  No  one  is  reformed  in   a  state  of  bodily 


168  THE  WriNE   TROISIDENCE 


disease,  because  the  reason  is  not  then  in  a  free 
state  ;  for  the  state  of  the  mind  depends  upon  the 
state  of  the  body.  When  the  body  is  sick  the  mind 
is  also  sick,  because  of  its  separation  from  the  world 
if  for  no  other  reason.  For  when  the  mind  is  re- 
moved from  the  world  it  may  think  about  God,  but 
not  from  God,  for  it  does  not  possess  freedom  of 
reason.  Man  has  freedom  of  reason  by  his  being 
midway  between  heaven  and  the  world,  and  by  his 
ability  to  think  from  heaven  or  from  the  world,  also 
from  heaven  about  the  world,  or  from  the  world 
about  heaven.  So  when  a  man  is  sick,  and  is 
thinking  about  death  and  the  state  of  his  soul  after 
death,  he  is  not  in  the  world  ;  but  in  spirit  he  is 
withdrawn  ;  and  in  this  state  alone  no  one  can  be 
reformed  ;  but  if  before  he  fell  sick  he  had  been 
reformed  this  can  then  be  strengthened. 

It  is  the  same  with  those  who  give  up  the  world 
and  all  business  there,  and  give  themselves  solely 
to  thoughts  about  God,  heaven,  and  salvation  ;  but 
of  this  more  elsewhere.  As  a  consequence,  if  these 
persons  had  not  been  reformed  before  their  sick- 
ness, if  they  die  they  afterwards  become  such  as 
they  were  before  the  sickness.  It  is  therefore  vain 
to  think  that  any  can  repent  or  receive  any  faith 
during  sickness,  for  in  such  repentance  there  is  no- 
thing of  aclion,  and  in  such  faith  nothing  of  charity  ; 
thus  both  belong  wholly  to  the  lips  and  not  at  all 
to  the  heart. 

143.  No  one  is  reformed  in  a  state  of  ignor- 
ance, because  all  reformation  is  effected  by  means 


CHAPTER    Vll.,  N.  144  169 

of  truths  and  a  life  according  to  them  ;  consequently 
those  who  are  ignorant  of  truths  cannot  be  re- 
formed ;  but  if  they  desire  truths  from  an  affection 
for  truths,  after  death  in  the  spiritual  world  they  are 
reformed. 

144.  Neither  can  any  one  be  reformed  in  a 
state  of  blindness  of  the  understanding.  These,  too, 
are  ignorant  of  truths,  and  consequently  of  life  ; 
for  the  understanding  must  teach  truths,  and  the 
will  must  do  them  ;  and  when  the  will  does  what 
the  understanding  teaches  its  life  comes  into  har- 
mony with  the  truths.  But  when  the  understanding 
is  blinded  the  will  is  closed  up ;  and  from  a  free- 
dom that  is  in  accord  with  its  reason  it  does  only 
the  evil  that  has  been  confirmed  in  the  understand- 
ing, which  is  falsity.  The  understanding  is  blinded 
not  only  by  ignorance  but  also  by  a  religion  that 
teaches  a  blind  faith,  also  by  false  doclrine.  For 
as  truths  open  the  understanding  so  falsities  close 
it ;  they  close  it  above  but  open  it  below ;  and  an 
understanding  that  is  opened  only  below  cannot 
see  truths,  but  can  merely  confirm  whatever  it  wills, 
especially  falsity.  The  understanding  is  also  blinded 
by  the  lusts  of  evil.  As  long  as  the  will  is  in  these 
it  moves  the  understanding  to  confirm  them ;  and 
so  far  as  the  lusts  of  evil  are  confirmed  it  is  impos- 
sible for  the  will  to  be  in  affections  for  good  and  to 
see  truths  from  them,  and  thus  be  reformed. 

When  one,  for  example,  is  in  the  lust  of  adultery, 
his  will,  which  is  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  love,  moves 
nis  understanding  to  confirm  it,  saying,  "What  is 


170  THE  THYME  'PROVIDENCE 

adultery?  Is  there  anything  wicked  in  it?  Is  there 
not  the  same  thing  between  husband  and  wife? 
Cannot  offspring  be  born  from  adultery  as  well  as 
from  marriage?  Cannot  a  woman  admit  more  than 
one  without  harm  ?  What  has  the  spiritual  to  do 
with  this?"  So  thinks  the  understanding  that  is 
then  the  will's  harlot,  and  that  has  become  so  stupid 
from  debauchery  with  the  will  as  to  be  unable  to 
see  that  conjugial  love  is  the  spiritual  heavenly  love 
itself,  an  image  of  love  of  the  Lord  and  of  the 
church,  and  derived  from  that  love,  and  thus  is  in 
itself  holy,  is  chastity  itself,  purity,  and  innocence ; 
also  that  it  makes  men  to  be  loves  in  form,  since 
consorts  can  love  each  other  mutually  from  inmosts, 
and  thus  form  themselves  into  loves  ;  while  adultery 
destroys  this  form,  and  with  it  the  image  of  the 
Lord,  and,  what  is  horrible,  the  adulterer  mingles 
his  life  with  the  husband's  life  in  his  wife,  since  a 
man's  life  is  in  his  seed. 

Because  this  is  profane  hell  is  called  adultery, 
and  heaven  on  the  other  hand  is  called  marriage. 
Moreover,  the  love  of  adultery  communicates  with 
the  lowest  hell,  while  love  truly  conjugial  commun- 
icates with  the  inmost  heaven ;  and  the  organs  of 
generation  in  either  sex  correspond  to  societies  of 
the  inmost  heaven.  All  this  has  been  presented 
to  make  known  how  blinded  the  understanding 
is  when  the  will  is  in  the  lust  of  evil ;  and  that  no 
man  can  be  reformed  in  a  state  of  blindness  of  the 
understanding. 


CHAPTER    VIL,  N.  145  171 

145.  (v.)  To  compel  oneself  is  not  contrary  to 
rationality  and  liberty. — It  has  been  shown  already 
that  man  has  an  internal  of  thought  and  an  external 
of  thought,  and  that  these  are  distinct  like  what  is 
prior  and  what  is  posterior,  or  like  what  is  higher 
and  what  is  lower ;  and  because  they  are  so  distinct 
they  can  acl:  separately  and  can  a6l  conjointly. 
These  acl;  separately  when  from  the  external  of  his 
thought  a  man  speaks  and  acts  in  one  way  while 
interiorly  he  thinks  and  wills  in  another  way ;  and 
these  acl:  conjointly  when  a  man  speaks  and  ads  as 
he  interiorly  thinks  and  wills.  The  latter  is  gen- 
erally true  of  the  sincere,  the  former  of  the  insin- 
cere. 

Inasmuch  as  the  internal  and  the  external  of  the 
mind  are  so  distinct,  the  internal  can  even  fight 
with  the  external,  and  can  force  it  by  combat  into 
compliance.  Combat  arises  when  a  man  thinks  that 
evils  are  sins  and  therefore  resolves. to  refrain  from 
them ;  for  when  he  refrains  a  door  is  opened,  and 
when  it  is  opened  the  Lord  casts  out  the  lusts  of 
evil  that  have  occupied  the  internal  of  thought,  and 
implants  affections  for  good  in  their  place.  This 
is  done  in  the  internal  of  thought.  But  as  the  en- 
joyments of  the  lusts  of  evil  that  occupy  the  exter- 
nal of  thought  cannot  be  cast  out  at  the  same  time, 
a  combat  arises  between  the  internal  and  the  ex- 
ternal of  thought,  the  internal  wishing  to  cast  out 
these  enjoyments  because  they  are  enjoyments  of 
evil  and  not  in  accord  with  the  affections  for  good 
in  which  the  internal  now  is,  and  to  bring  in,  in  place 


172  THE  "DIVINE 

of  these  enjoyments  of  evil,  enjoyments  of  good 
that  are  in  accord.  The  enjoyments  of  good  are 
what  are  called  goods  of  charity.  From  this  con- 
trariety a  combat  arises ;  and  when  this  becomes 
severe  it  is  called  temptation. 

Since,  then,  a  man  is  a  man  according  to  the 
internal  of  his  thought,  for  this  is  a  man's  very 
spirit,  it  is  clear  that  when  a  man  compels  the  ex- 
ternal of  his  thought  to  acquiescence  or  to  re- 
ceive the  enjoyments  of  his  affections,  which  are, 
goods  of  charity,  he  is  compelling  himself.  This 
evidently  is  not  contrary  to  rationality  and  liberty, 
but  is  in  accord  with  them,  for  rationality  excites  the 
combat  and  liberty  carries  it  on.  Moreover,  lib- 
erty itself  with  rationality  has  its  seat  in  the  internal 
man,  and  from  that  in  the  external. 

When,  therefore,  the  internal  conquers,  as  it  does 
when  the  internal  has  reduced  the  external  to 
acquiescence  and  compliance,  the  Lord  gives  man 
liberty  itself  and  rationality  itself;  for  the  Lord  then 
withdraws  man  from  infernal  freedom,  which  in  it- 
self is  slavery,  and  brings  him  into  heavenly  freedom, 
which  is  in  itself  real  freedom,  and  bestows  upon 
him  fellowship  with  the  angels.  That  those  who 
are  in  sins  are  servants,  and  that  the  Lord  makes 
free  those  who  accept  truths  from  Him  through 
the  Word  He  teaches  in  John  (viii.  31-36). 

146.  This  may  be  illustrated  by  the  example 
of  a  man  who  has  had  a  sense  of  enjoyment  in 
fraud  and  secret  theft,  and  who  now  sees  and  in- 
ternally acknowledges  that  these  are  sins,  and  there- 
fore wishes  to  refrain  from  them.  When  he  refrains 


CHAPTER  V.,  N.  147  173 

a  combat  of  the  internal  man  with  the  external 
arises.  The  internal  man  feels  an  affection  for  sin- 
cerity, while  the  external  still  feels  an  enjoyment  in 
defrauding  ;  and  as  this  enjoyment  is  the  direcl;  op- 
posite of  the  enjoyment  of  sincerity  it  only  gives 
way  when  it  is  compelled  ;  and  it  can  be  compelled 
only  by  combat.  But  when  the  victory  has  been 
gained  the  external  man  comes  into  the  enjoyment 
.of  the  love  of  what  is  sincere,  which  is  charity  ; 
afterwards  the  enjoyment  of  defrauding  gradually 
becomes  unenjoyable  to  him.  It  is  the  same  with 
other  sins,  as  with  adultery  and  whoredom,  revenge 
and  hatred,  blasphemy,  and  lying.  But  the  hardest 
struggle  of  all  is  with  the  love  of  rule  from  the  love 
of  self.  He  who  subdues  this  easily  subdues  all 
other  evil  loves,  for  this  is  their  head. 

147.  It  shall  also  be  stated  briefly  how  the 
Lord  casts  out  lusts  of  evil,  which  occupy  the  in- 
ternal man  from  birth,  and  how  He  imparts  in  their 
stead  affections  for  good  whenever  a  man  as  if  from 
himself  puts  away  evils  as  sins.  It  has  been  shown 
before  that  man  has  a  natural  mind,  a  spiritual  mind, 
and  a  celestial  mind  ;  and  that  so  long  as  a  man  is 
in  the  lusts  of  evil  and  in  their  enjoyments  he  is 
in  the  natural  mind  alone,  and  the  spiritual  mind 
is  closed.  But  as  soon  as  a  man  after  examination 
acknowledges  evils  to  be  sins  against  God,  because 
they  are  contrary  to  Divine  laws,  and  resolves 
in  consequence  to  refrain  from  them,  the  Lord 
opens  his  spiritual  mind  and  enters  into  his  natural 
mind  through  affections  for  truth  and  good,  and 


174  THE  «D/F/N£  TROWDENCE 

He  also  enters  into  the  rational,  and  from  it  ar- 
ranges in  order  the  things  that  are  contrary  to 
order  below  it  in  the  natural.  This  is  what  ap- 
pears to  man  as  combat ;  and  in  those  that  have 
indulged  much  in  the  enjoyments  of  evil  it  appears 
as  temptation,  since  the  nature  of  man  suffers  \vhen 
the  order  of  his  thoughts  is  being  reversed.  And 
as  there  is  a  combat  against  the  things  that  are  in 
the  man  himself  and  that  he  feels  to  be  his  own, 
and  as  one  can  fight  against  himself  only  from  an 
interior  self  and  from  freedom  there,  it  follows  that 
the  internal  man  then  fights  against  .the  external, 
and  fights  from  freedom,  and  compels  the  external 
to  obedience.  This,  therefore,  is  compelling  one's 
self;  and  this,  evidently,  is  not  contrary  to  liberty 
and  rationality,  but  in  accordance  with  them. 

J48.  Furthermore,  every  man  wishes  to  be  free, 
and  to  put  away  from  himself  non-freedom  or  servi- 
tude. Every  boy  subject  to  a  teacher  wishes  to 
be  his  own  master,  and  thus  free ;  the  same  is  true 
of  every  servant  under  his  master,  and  every  maid- 
servant under  her  mistress.  Every  maiden  wishes 
to  leave  her  father's  house  and  to  marry,  that  she 
may  acl;  freely  in  her  own  house ;  every  youth  who 
desires  employment  or  to  be  in  business  or  perform 
the  duties  of  any  office,  while  he  is  subject  to  others 
longs  to  be  released,  so  as  to  be  at  his  own  dis- 
posal. All  such  who  willingly  serve  for  the  sake 
of  liberty  compel  themselves ;  and  when  they  com- 
pel themselves  they  acl  from  freedom  in  accord- 
ance with  reason,  but  from  an  interior  freedom, 


CHAPTER   riL.N.  149  175 

from  which  exterior  freedom  is  looked  upon  as  a 
servant.  This  has  been  presented  to  show  that  it  is 
not  contrary  to  rationality  and  liberty  to  compel 
oneself. 

149.  Man  does  not  wish  in  like  manner  to 
come  out  of  spiritual  servitude  into  spiritual  liberty, 
for  the  reason,  first,  that  he  does  not  know  what 
spiritual  servitude  is  and  what  spiritual  liberty  is ; 
he  does  not  possess  the  truths  that  teach  this ;  and 
without  truths,  spiritual  servitude  is  believed  to  be 
freedom,  and  spiritual  freedom  to  be  servitude. 
Another  reason  is  that  the  religion  of  the  Christ- 
ian world  has  closed  up  the  understanding,  and 
faith  alone  has  sealed  it ;  for  both  of  these  have 
placed  around  themselves,  like  a  wall  of  iron,  the 
dogma  that  theological  matters  transcend  the  com- 
prehension, and  cannot  therefore  be  reached  by  any 
exercise  of  the  reason,  and  are  for  the  blind,  not 
for  those  that  see.  In  this  way  have  the  truths 
been  hidden  that  teach  what  spiritual  liberty  is. 
A  third  reason  is,  that  few  examine  themselves  and 
see  their  sins ;  and  he  who  does  not  see  his  sins 
and  refrain  from  them  is  in  the  freedom  of  sin,  which 
is  infernal  freedom,  in  itself  bondage  ;  and  from  this 
to  see  heavenly  freedom,  which  is  freedom  itself, 
is  like  seeing  day  when  immersed  in  thick  dark- 
ness, or  like  seeing  what  is  from  the  sun  above 
when  covered  by  a  dark  cloud.  For  these  reasons 
it  is  not  known  what  heavenly  freedom  is,  and  that 
the  difference  between  it  and  infernal  freedom  is 


176  THE   THVINE   TROWDENCE 

like  the  difference  between  what  is  alive  and  what 
is  dead. 

150.  (vi. )  The  external  man  must  be  reformed 
by  means  of  the  internal,  and  not  the  reverse. — By 
the  internal  and  external  man  the  same  is  meant 
as  by  the  internal  and  external  of  thought,  which 
have  been  frequently  denned  above.  The  reforma- 
tion of  the  external  by  means  of  the  internal  means 
that  the  internal  flows  into  the  external,  and  not 
the  reverse.  It  is  acknowledged  in  the  learned 
world  that  there  is  an  influx  of  the  spiritual  into 
the  natural,  and  not  the  reverse  ;  and  it  is  acknow- 
ledged in  the  church  that  the  internal  man  must  be 
first  cleansed  and  renewed,  and  thereby  the  exter- 
nal. This  is  knowfi  because  it  is  taught  by  the 
Lord  and  asserted  by  the  reason.  It  is  taught  by 
the  Lord  in  these  words  : 

"Woe  unto  you,  ....  hypocrites  ;  for  ye  cleanse  the  out- 
side of  the  cup  and  of  the  platter,  but  within  they  are 
full  from  extortion  and  excess.  Thou  blind  Pharisee, 
cleanse  first  the  inside  of  the  cup  and  of  the  platter, 
that  the  outside  of  them  may  become  clean  also " 
(Matt,  xxiii.  25,  26). 

That  the  reason  asserts  this  has  been  abund- 
antly shown  in  the  work  on  The  Divine  Love  and 
the  Divine  Wisdom.  For  what  the  Lord  teaches 
he  gives  to  man  the  ability  to  perceive  rationally, 
and  this  in  two  ways  ;  in  one,  man  sees  in  him- 
self that  a  thing  is  so  as  soon  as  he  hears  it  ;  in 
the  other,  he  understands  it  by  means  of  reasons. 


CHAPTER  yil.,  N.   /5/  177 

His  seeing  it  in  himself  is  in  his  internal  man  ;  his 
understanding  it  by  means  of  reasons  is  in  the  ex- 
ternal man.  Does  not  every  one  see  it  in  him- 
self when  he  hears  that  the  internal  man  must  be 
cleansed  first,  and  the  external  by  means  of  it? 
But  one  who  does  not  receive  a  general  idea  of  this 
subject  by  influx  from  heaven  may  be  misled  when 
he  consults  the  external  of  his  thought ;  from  that 
alone  no  one  sees  otherwise  than  that  the  external 
works  of  charity  and  piety,  apart  from  internal 
works,  are  what  save.  So  in  other  things  ;  as  that 
sight  and  hearing  flow  into  thought,  and  that  smell 
and  taste  flow  into  perception,  thus  the  external 
into  the  internal,  when,  nevertheless,  the  contrary 
is  true.  The  appearance  that  things  seen  and  heard 
flow  into  the  thought  is  a  fallacy  ;  for  it  is  the  un- 
derstanding that  sees  in  the  eye  and  hears  in  the 
ear,  and  not  the  reverse.  So  in  everything  else. 

151*  But  it  shall  now  be  told  briefly  how  the 
internal  man  is  reformed,  and  the  external  by  means 
of  it.  The  internal  man  is  not  reformed  merely 
by  knowing,  understanding,  and  being  wise,  con- 
sequently by  thought  alone  ;  but  by  willing  that 
which  knowledge,  understanding,  and  wisdom  teach. 
When  a  man  from  his  knowledge,  understanding, 
and  wisdom  sees  that  there  is  a  heaven  and  a  hell, 
and  that  all  evil  is  from  hell,  and  all  good  is  from 
heaven,  if  he  ceases  to  will  evil  because  it  is  from 
hell,  and  wills  good  because  it  is  from  heayen,  he 
is  in  the  first  stage  of  reformation,  and  is  at  the 
threshold  from  hell  into  heaven.  When  he  goes 


178  THE  HIIYINE  TRO^/DENCE 

further  and  wills  to  refrain  from  evils  he  is  in  the 
second  stage  of  reformation,  and  is  outside  of  hell, 
but  not  yet  in  heaven  ;  he  sees  heaven  above  him. 
Man  must  have  such  an  internal  in  order  to  be 
reformed  ;  and  yet  he  is  not  reformed  unless  the 
external  is  reformed  as  well  as  the  internal.  The 
external  is  reformed  by  means  of  the  internal  when 
the  external  refrains  from  the  evils  that  the  inter- 
nal does  not  will  because  they  are  infernal,  and  still 
more  when  the  external  for  this  reason  shuns  evils 
and  fights  against  them.  Thus  volition  is  the  inter- 
nal and  doing  is  the  external  ;  for  unless  one  does 
that  which  he  wills  there  is  within  a  failure  to  will, 
and  finally  the  willing  ceases. 

From  these  few  statements  it  can  be  seen  how 
the  external  man  is  reformed  by  means  of  the 
internal.  This  is  what  is  taught  in  the  Lord' s  words 
to  Peter  : 

Jesus  said,  "If  I  wash  thee  not  thou  hast  no  part  with 
Me.  Peter  said  unto  Him,  Lord,  not  my  feet  only, 
but  also  my  hands  and  my  head.  Jesus  said  unto  him, 
He  that  hath  bathed  needeth  not  save  to  wash  his 
feet,  but  is  clean  every  whit"  (John  xiii.  8-10). 

' '  To  wash ' '  means  spiritual  washing,  which  is  to 
cleanse  from  evils  ;  ' '  washing  the  head  and  the 
hands ' '  means  to  cleanse  the  internal  man  ;  and 
' '  washing  'the  feet ' '  means  to  cleanse  the  external 
man.  That  when  the  internal  man  has  been  cleansed 
the  external  must  be  cleansed  is  meant  by  this, 
"He  that  hath  bathed  needeth  not  save  to  wash  his 
feet."  That  all  cleansing  from  evils  is  from  the 


CHAPTER   VII. ,  N.  152  179 

Lord  is  meant  by  this,  "If  I  wash  thee  not  thou 
hast  no  part  with  Me."  That  among  the  Jews  wash- 
ing represented  cleansing  from  evils,  and  this  is  what 
"washing"  signifies  in  the  Word,  and  "washing 
the  feet"  signifies  the  cleansing  of  the  natural  or 
external  man,  has  been  shown  in  the  Arcana  Cae- 
lestia,  in  many  places. 

152.  Since  man  has  an  internal  and  an  exter- 
nal, and  both  must  be  reformed  that  the  man  may 
be  reformed,  and  since  no  one  can  be  reformed 
unless  he  examines  himself,  sees  and  acknowledges 
his  evils,  and  afterwards  refrains  from  them,  it  fol- 
lows that  not  only  the  external  but  also  the  inter- 
nal must  be  examined.  If  the  external  alone  is 
examined,  a  man  sees  only  what  he  has  actually 
done,  as  that  he  has  not  committed  murder,  adul- 
tery, or  theft,  has  not  borne  false  witness ;  and  so 
on.  Thus  he  examines  the  evils  of  his  body,  and 
not  the  evils  of  his  spirit.  Nevertheless,  one  cannot 
be  reformed  unless  the  evils  of  the  spirit  are  exam- 
ined, for  after  death  man  lives  a  spirit,  and  all  the 
evils  that  are  in  the  spirit  remain.  The  spirit  is  ex- 
amined only  by  man's  attending  to  his  thoughts, 
especially  his  purposes,  for  purposes  are  thoughts 
from  the  will ;  that  is  where  evils  are  in  their  origin 
and  in  their  root,  that  is,  in  their  lusts  and  in  their 
enjoyments  ;  and  unless  these  are  seen  and  acknow- 
ledged the  man  is  still  in  evils,  although  in  externals 
he  has  not  practised  them.  That  to  think  from  pur- 
pose is  to  will  and  to  do  is  clear  from  the  Lord's 
words : 


180  THE  'DIVINE  ^PROVIDENCE 

"  Every  one  that  looketh  on  another's  woman  to  lust  after 
her  hath  committed  adultery  with  her  already  in  his 
heart "  (Matt.  v.  28). 

Such  is  the  examination  of  the  internal  man,  where- 
by the  external  man  is  essentially  examined. 

153.  I  have  often  wondered,  that  although  it 
is  recognized  by  the  whole  Christian  world  that  evils 
must  be  shunned  as  sins,  and  that  otherwise  they 
are  not  remitted,  and  unless  they  are  remitted  there- 
is  no  salvation,  yet  this  is  known  by  scarcely  one 
among  thousands.  Inquiry  was  made  about  this 
in  the  spiritual  world,  and  it  was  found  to  be  so. 
This  is  recognized  by  everyone  in  the  Christian 
world  from  the  exhortations  read  before  those  who 
come  to  the  Holy  Supper,  for  it  is  openly  declared 
in  these ;  nevertheless  when  they  are  asked  whether 
they  know  this,  they  answer  that  they  do  not,  and 
that  they  have  never  known  it.  This  is  because 
they  have  not  thought  about  it,  and  because  most 
of  them  have  thought  only  of  faith,  and  of  salva- 
tion by  it  alone.  I  have  also  wondered  that  faith 
alone  so  closes  the  eyes  that  when  those  who  have 
confirmed  themselves  in  it  are  reading  the  Word 
they  ste  nothing  that  is  there  said  about  love, 
charity,  and  works.  It  is  as  if  they  had  daubed 
faith  all  over  the  things  of  the  Word,  as  one  might 
so  smear  a  manuscript  with  red  lead  that  nothing 
underneath  it  would  appear.  Or  if  anything  does 
appear,  it  is  absorbed  by  faith  and  is  said  to  be 
faith. 


VIII. 


IT  IS  A  LAW  OF  THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  THAT  MAN  SHOULD 
BE  LED  AND  TAUGHT  BY  THE  LORD  FROM  HEAVEN  BY 
MEANS  OF  THE  WORD  AND  BY  MEANS  OF  DOCTRINE 
AND  PREACHINGS  FROM  THE  WORD,  AND  THIS  TO 
ALL  APPEARANCE  AS  IF  BY  HIMSELF. 

< 

THE  appearance  is  that  man  is  led  and  taught 
by  himself;    but  the  truth  is  that  he  is  led 
and  taught  by  the  Lord  alone.     Those  who 
confirm   in    themselves   the  appearance  apart  from 
the  truth  are  unable  to  put  away  Irom  themselves 
evils  as  sins ;    but  those  who  confirm  in  themselves 
both  the  appearance  and  the  truth  are  able  to  do 
so,  for  in  appearance  it  is  man  who  puts  away  evils 
as   sins,  but    in  truth    it   is   the  Lord.     This  latter 
class  can  be  reformed,  the  former  cannot. 

Those  who  confirm  in  themselves  the  appear- 
ance apart  from  the  truth  are  all  interior  idolaters, 
since  they  are  worshippers  of  self  and  the  world. 
If  they  have  no  religion  they  become  worshippers 
of  nature  and  thus  atheists  ;  while  if  they  have  a 
religion  they  become  worshippers  of  men  and  even 
of  images.  Such  at  the  present  day  are  meant  by 
those  described  in  the  first  commandment  of  the 
decalogue,  who  worship  other  gods.  But  those 
who  confirm  in  themselves  both  the  appearance 
and  the  truth  become  worshippers  of  the  Lord ;  for 


182  THE  THYME  "P/?OF/D£NC£ 

they  are  raised  up  by  the  Lord  out  of  what  is  their 
own  (proprium),  which  is  in  the  appearance,  and  are 
brought  into  the  light  in  which  is  truth  and  which 
is  truth ;  and  the  Lord  enables  them  to  perceive 
interiorly  that  they  are  led  and  taught  by  Him, 
and  not  by  themselves. 

To  many  the  rational  of  both  classes  seems  to  be 
the  same,  but  it  is  different.  The  rational  of  those 
who  are  both  in  the  appearance  and  in  the  truth 
is  a  spiritual  rational,  while  the  rational  of  those  who 
are  in  the  appearance  apart  from  the  truth  is  a  nat- 
ural rational.  This  natural  rational  may  be  likened 
to  a  garden  as  it  is  in  the  light  of  winter,  while  the 
spiritual  rational  may  be  likened  to  a  garden  as  it 
is  in  the  light  of  spring.  But  more  about  this  in 
what  follows,  and  in  this  order : 

(i.)   Man  is  led  and  taught  by  the  Lord  alone. 
(ii.)    Man  is  led  and  taught  by  the  Lord  alone 
through  the  angelic  heaven  and  from  it. 
(iii.)    Man  is  led  by  the  Lord  by  means  of  influx, 
and  taught  by  means  of  enlightenment. 
(iv.)   Man  is  taught  by  the  Lord  by  means  of  the 
Word,  and  by  means  of  doftrine  and 
preachings  from  the  Word,  thus  imme- 
diately by  the  Lord  alone. 

(v.)  In  externals  man  is  led  and  taught  by  the 
Lord  in  all  appearance  as  if  by  him- 
self. 

155.  (i.)  Man  is  led  and  taught  by  the  Lord 
alone. — This  flows,  as  a  universal  consequent,  from 
all  that  has  been  set  forth  in  the  work  on  The  Di- 
vine Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom,  from  what  is 


CHAPTER   VllL,  N.  757  183 

there  shown  respecting  the  Lord's  Divine  love  and 
His  Divine  wisdom  in  Part  First,  also  respecting 
the  sun  of  the  spiritual  world  and  the  sun  of  the 
natural  world  in  Part  Second ;  also  respecting  de- 
grees in  Part  Third,  and  also  respecting  the  crea- 
tion of  the  universe  in  Part  Fourth  ;  and  respecting 
the  creation  of  man  in  Part  Fifth. 

156.  That  man  is  led  and  taught  by  the  Lord 
alone  means  that  he  lives   from  the  Lord  alone ; 
for  what  is  led  is  his  life's  will,  and  what  is  taught 
is  his  life's  understanding.     But  this  is  contrary  to 
the  appearance ;  for  man  seems  to  himself  to  live 
from  himself,  while  the  truth  is  that  he  lives  from 
the  Lord   and  not   from  himself.     Since,  then,  so 
long  as  man  remains  in  this  world  no  perception 
by  sensation  can  be  given  him  that  he  lives  from 
the  Lord  alone  (because  the  appearance  that  he 
lives  from  himself  is  never  taken  away  from  him, 
for  without  it  a  man  is  not  a  man),  therefore  this 
truth  must  be    established  by   reasons,  and  these 
must  be  confirmed  by  experience,  and  finally  by  the 
Word. 

157.  That  man  lives  from  the  Lord  alone,  and 
not  from  himself,  is  established  by  these  reasons : 
There  is  an  only  essence,  an  only  substance,  and  an 
only  form,  from  which  have  come  all  the  essences, 
substances,  and  forms  that  have  been  created.    That 
only    essence,    substance,    and  form  is   the   Divine 
love  and  the  Divine  wisdom,  from  which  all  things 
that  have  relation  to  love  and  wisdom  in  man  are 
derived.     It  is  also  the  Good  itself  and  the  Truth 


184  THE  "DIVINE  TROWDENCE 

itself  to  which  all  things  have  relation.  These  are 
the  life,  which  is  the  source  of  the  life  of  all  things 
and  of  all  things  of  life.  The  Only  and  the  Itself 
is  the  omnipresent,  omniscient,  and  omnipotent. 
This  Only  and  Itself  is  the  Lord  from  eternity,  or 
Jehovah. 

First :  There  is  an  only  essence,  an  only  sub- 
stance, and  an  only  form,  from  which  have  come 
all  the  essences,  substances,  and  forms,  that  have  been 
created.  This  is  shown  in  the  work  on  The  Divine 
Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom  (n.  44-46)  ;  and  in 
Part  Second  of  that  work  it  has  been  shown  that 
the  sun  of  the  angelic  heaven,  which  is  from  the 
Lord  and  in  which  the  Lord  is,  is  that  only  sub- 
stance and  form  from  which  have  come  all  things 
that  have  been  created,  and  that  there  is  nothing 
and  can  be  nothing  that  is  not  from  that  sun.  And 
in  Part  Third  it  has  been  shown  that  all  things  are 
from  that  sun  by  derivations  according  to  degrees. 

Who  does  not  perceive  and  acknowledge  from 
his  reason  that  there  is  an  only  essence  from  which 
is  all  essence,  or  an  only  Being  (Esse)  from  which 
is  all  being  («**)?  Can  any  thing  have  existence 
apart  from  being?  And  what  is  the  being  from 
which  is  all  being,  unless  it  is  Being  itself?  And 
that  which  is  Being  itself  is  also  the  only  Being  and 
Being  in  itself.  This  being  true  (and  every  one 
perceives  and  acknowledges,  or  can  perceive  and 
acknowlege  from  his  reason  that  it  is  true),  what 
else  follows  than  that  this  Being,  which  is  the  Di- 


CHAPTER    Vlll.,  N.  1 57  185 

vine  itself,  and  is  Jehovah,  is  the  all  of  all  things 
that  have  being  and  existence. 

The  same  is  true  when  it  is  said  that  there  is 
an  only  substance  from  which  are  all  things.  And 
as  substance  without  form  is  not  anything,  it  follows 
also  that  there  is  an  only  form  from  which  are  all 
things.  That  the  sun  of  the  angelic  heaven  is  this 
only  substance  and  form,  and  how  this  essence,  sub- 
stance, and  form  is  varied  in  created  things,  has 
been  shown  in  the  work  mentioned  above. 

Secondly:  That  only  essence,  substance,  and  form 
is  the  Divine  love  and  the  Divine  wisdom,  from 
which  all  things  that  have  relation  to  love  and  wis- 
dom in  man  are  derived. — This,  too,  has  been  fully 
shown  in  the  work  on  The  Divine  Love  and  the 
Divine  Wisdom.  Whatever  things  in  man  appear 
to  live  have  relation  to  the  will  and  the  under- 
standing in  him  ;  and  that  these  two  are  what  con- 
stitute man's  life  is  perceived  and  acknowledged 
by  every  one  from  his  reason.  What  more  is  there 
in  life  than,  This  I  will,  or  this  I  understand  ;  in 
other  words,  This  I  love,  or  this  I  think?  And  as 
that  which  is  loved  is  willed,  and  that  which  is  un- 
derstood is  thought,  so  all  things  of  the  will  have 
relation  to  love,  and  all  things  of  the  understand- 
ing to  wisdom.  And  since  love  and  wisdom  can- 
not exist  in  any  one  from  himself,  but  only  from 
Him  who  is  Love  itself  and  Wisdom  itself,  it  fol- 
lows that  all  this  is  from  the  Lord  from  eternity, 
that  is,  Jehovah  ;  if  it  were  not  so,  man  would  be 
Love  itself  and  Wisdom  itself,  thus  God  from  eter- 


186  THE  THV1NE  'PROVIDENCE 

nity ;  and  at  this  human  reason  itself  shudders. 
Can  any  thing  exist  except  from  what  is  prior  to 
itself?  And  can  this  prior  exist  except  from  what 
is  prior  to  it,  and  thus  finally,  except  from  the  First 
which  is  in  itself? 

Thirdly :  It  is  likewise  the  Good  itself  and  the 
Truth  itself  to  which  all  things  have  relation.  It 
is  accepted  and  acknowledged  by  every  rational  be- 
ing that  God  is  Good  itself  and  Truth  itself,  and 
that  every  good  and  truth  is  from  Him  ;  conse- 
quently, that  no  good  or  truth  can  come  from  any 
other  source  than  Good  itself  and  Truth  itself. 
This  is  acknowledged  by  every  rational  man  as  soon 
as  he  hears  it.  When  after  this  it  is  said  that  every- 
thing of  the  will  and  the  understanding,  or  every- 
thing of  love  and  wisdom,  or  everything  of  affec- 
tion and  thought  in  a  man  who  is  led  by  the  Lord, 
has  relation  to  good  and  truth,  it  foljows  that  every 
activity  of  the  will  and  understanding  of  such  a  man, 
or  of  his  love  and  wisdom,  or  of  his  affection  and 
thought,  is  from  the  Lord.  And  from  this  every 
one  in  the  church  knows  that  any  good  or  any 
truth  that  is  from  man  is  not  truth  and  good  in 
itself,  but  only  that  which  is  from  the  Lord.  As 
this  is  the  truth,  it  follows  that  everything  that  such 
a  man  wills  and  thinks  is  from  the  Lord.  That  no 
evil  man  is  able  to  will  and  to  think  from  any  other 
source  will  be  shown  hereafter. 

Fourthly  :  These  are  the  life,  which  is  the  source 
of  the  life  of  all  things  and  of  all  things  of  life. 
This  has  been  fully  shown  in  the  work  on  The 


CHAPTER    Vlll.,  N.  757  187 

Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom.  Moreover, 
human  reason  accepts  and  acknowledges,  as  soon 
as  it  is  heard,  that  the  whole  life  of  man  belongs  to 
his  will  and  understanding,  for  if  these  were  to  be 
taken  away  he  would  cease  to  live ;  or,  what  is  the 
same,  that  the  whole  life  of  man  belongs  to  his  love 
and  thought,  for  if  these  were  to  be  taken  away  he 
would  cease  to  live.  Since,  then,  everything  oi  the 
will  and  understanding,  or  everything  of  love  and 
thought  in  man,  is  from  the  Lord,  as  has  just  been 
said,  it  follows  that  every  thing  of  his  life  is  from 
the  Lord. 

Fifthly :  This  Only  and  Itself  is  omnipresent, 
omniscient,  and  omnipotent.  This,  too,  every  Christ- 
ian acknowledges  from  his  doclrine,  and  every 
Gentile  from  his  religion.  And  for  this  reason 
every  one,  wherever  he  may  be,  thinks  that  God  is 
where  he  is,  and  prays  to  God  as  present.  And 
as  every  one  so  thinks  and  so  prays,  it  follows  that 
there  can  be  no  other  thought  than  that  God  is 
everywhere,  thus  omnipresent.  The  same  is  true 
of  His  omniscience  and  omnipotence.  Consequently, 
whoever  prays  in  his  heart  to  God  implores  Him 
to  lead  him,  because  He  is  able.  Thus  at  such  a 
time  every  one  acknowledges  the  Divine  omnipres- 
ence, omniscience,  and  omnipotence ;  this  he  does 
because  he  turns  his  face  to  the  Lord,  and  ihis 
truth  then  flows  in  from  the  Lord. 

Sixthly  :  This  Only  and  Itself  is  the  Lord  from 
eternity,  or  Jehovah.  It  has  been  shown  in  77ie 
DocJrine  of  the  New  Jerusalem  concerning  the 


188  THE  <D/raV£  PROVIDENCE 

Lord,  that  God  is  one  in  essence  and  in  person, 
and  that  this  God  is  the  Lord  ;  also  that  the  Divine 
Itself,  which  is  called  Jehovah  the  Father,  is  the 
Lord  from  eternity ;  that  the  Divine  Human  is  the 
Son  conceived  from  His  Divine  from  eternity  and 
born  in  the  world,  and  that  the  Divine  going  forth 
is  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  expressions,  the  Itself  and 
the  Only  are  used,  because  it  has  been  said  above 
that  the  Lord  from  eternity,  or  Jehovah,  is  Life  it- 
self, since  He  is  Love  itself  and  Wisdom  itself,  or 
Good  itself  and  Truth  itself,  from  which  all  things 
are.  That  the  Lord  created  all  things  from  Him- 
self, and  not  •  from  nothing,  may  be  seen  in  the 
work  on  The  Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wis- 
dom (n.  282-284,  349-357).  From  all  this  the  truth 
that  man  is  led  and  taught  by  the  Lord  alone  is 
established  by  reasons. 

158.  To  the  angels,  especially  the  angels  of 
the  third  heaven,  this  truth  is  established,  not  by 
reasons  alone  but  also  by  living  perceptions.  They 
perceive  the  influx  of  Divine  love  and  Divine  wis- 
dom from  the  Lord.  And  because  they  perceive 
that  influx,  and  from  their  wisdom  know  that  this 
inflowing  love  and  wisdom  is  life,  they  declare  that 
they  live  from  the  Lord  and  not  from  themselves ; 
and  not  only  do  they  declare  this,  they  love  and 
wish  to  have  it  so.  Nevertheless,  to  all  appearance, 
they  are  as  if  they  lived  from  themselves ;  and  the 
appearance  is  even  stronger  with  them  than  with 
other  angels ;  for  as  has  been  sho\vn  above  (n. 
42-45),  The  more  nearly  any  one  is  conjoined  with 


CHAPTER    Vlll.,  N.  1 60  189 

the  Lord,  the  more  distinctly  does  he  appear  to  him- 
self to  be  his  own,  and  the  more  clearly  does  he  re- 
cognize that  he  is  the  Lord's.  It  has  been  granted 
me  now  for  several  years  to  be  in  a  like  perception 
and  appearance,  and  I  have  been  fully  convinced 
by  it  that  nothing  of  my  will  or  thought  is  from 
myself,  but  only  appears  to  be  from  myself;  and  it 
has  also  been  granted  me  to  will  and  to  love  this. 
This  truth  might  be  established  by  many  other 
things  from  the  spiritual  world ;  but  these  two  are 
enough  for  the  present. 

159.  That   the  Lord  alone   has   life   is   made 
clear  by  the  following  passages  in  the  Word : 

"  I  am  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life  ;  he  that  believeth 
in  Me,  though  he  die,  yet  shall  he  live"  (John  xi.  25). 

"  I  am  the  Way,  the  Truth,  and  the  Life  "  (John  xiv.  6). 

"  The  Word  was  God In  Him  was  life,  and  the 

life  was  the  light  of  men  "  (John  i.  I,  4). 

Here  "the  Word"  means  the  Lord. 

"  As  the  Father  hath  life  in  Himself,  so  gave  He  to  the 
Son  to  have  life  in  Himself"  (John  v.  26). 

That  man  is  led  and  taught  by  the  Lord  alone  is 
clear  from  the  following  passages : 

"  Without  Me  ye  can  do  nothing  "  (John  xv.  5). 

"  A  man  can  receive  nothing    except  it   be   given  him 

from  heaven  "  (John  iii.  27). 
A  man  "  cannot  make  one  hair  white  or  black"  (Matt.  v. 

36). 

"A  hair"  signifies  in  the  Word  the  least  of  all 
things. 

160.  That  the  life  of  the  evil  is  from  the  same 


190  THE  T)1VINE  TROflDENCE 

source  will  be  shown  in  its  proper  place  further  on. 
Here  it  will  merely  be  illustrated  by  a  comparison. 
From  the  sun  of  the  world  heat  and  light  flow  in, 
flowing  alike  into  trees  that  bear  evil  fruit  and  into 
trees  that  bear  good  fruit,  and  they  are  alike  quick- 
ened and  grow.  It  is  not  the  heat  in  itself,  but  the 
forms  into  which  the  heat  flows,  that  cause  this 
diversity.  It  is  the  same  with  light,  which  is  turned 
into  various  colors  according  to  the  forms  into 
which  it  flows.  Some  colors  are  beautiful  and 
pleasing,  and  some  are  ugly  and  dull ;  and  yet  the 
light  is  the  same.  The  same  is  true  of  the  influx 
of  spiritual  heat,  which  in  itself  is  love,  and  of  spir- 
itual light,  which  in  itself  is  wisdom,  from  the  sun 
of  the  spiritual  world.  The  forms  into  which  they 
flow  are  what  cause  the  diversity,  and  not  that  heat 
which  is  love,  and  that  light  which  is  wisdom,  in 
themselves.  The  forms  into  which  they  flow  are 
human  minds.  From  all  this  it  is  clear  that  man  is 
led  and  taught  by  the  Lord  alone. 

161.  But  what  the  life  of  animals  is  has  been 
shown  above,   namely,   that  it   is  a   life  of  merely 
natural   affection   with    the   knowledge   that   is   its 
mate ;    and  that  it  is  a  mediate  life,  corresponding 
to  the  life  of  those  who  are  in  the  spiritual  world. 

162.  (ii.)  Man  is  led  and  taught  by  the  Lord 
alone  through  the  angelic  heaven  and  from  it. — It 
is  said  that  man  is  led  by  the  Lord  through  and 
from   the  angelic  heaven  ;    that   he   is   led  through 
the   angelic   heaven    is   an  appearance;    that  he  is 


CHAPTER   Vlll.,  N.  162  191 

led  from  that  heaven  is  the  truth.  That  he  is  led 
through  the  angelic  heaven  is  an  appearance  from 
the  Lord's  appearing  above  that  heaven  as  a  sun  ; 
that  he  is  led  from  that  heaven  is  the  truth,  be- 
cause the  Lord  is  in  heaven  as  the  soul  is  in  man. 
For  the  Lord  is  omnipresent,  and  is  not  in  space, 
as  has  been  shown  above ;  consequently  distance  is 
an  appearance  according  to  conjunction  with  the 
Lord ;  and  conjunction  is  according  to  the  recep- 
tion of  love  and  wisdom  from  the  Lord.  And  as 
no  one  can  be  conjoined  with  the  Lord  as  He  is 
in  Himself,  He  appears  to  angels  at  a  distance  like 
a  sun ;  nevertheless  He  is  in  the  whole  angelic 
heaven,  like  the  soul  in  man.  He  is  in  like  man- 
ner in  every  society  of  heaven,  and  in  every  angel 
therein ;  for  a  man's  soul  is  both  the  soul  of  the 
whole  and  the  soul  of  every  part. 

But  because  of  the  appearance  that  the  Lord 
rules  the  whole  heaven,  and  through  it  the  world, 
from  the  sun  that  is  from  Him  and  in  which  He  is 
(respecting  which  sun  see  Part  Second  of  the  work 
on  The  Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdotri),  and 
because  every  man  is  permitted  to  speak  from  ap- 
pearance, nor  can  he  do  otherwise,  so  any  one 
who  is  not  in  wisdom  itself  is  permitted  to  think 
that  the  Lord  rules  each  thing  and  all  things  from 
His  sun ;  and  also  that  he  rules  the  world  through 
the  angelic  heaven.  From  that  appearance,  more- 
over, the  angels  of  the  lower  heavens  think ;  but 
the  angels  of  the  higher  heavens,  while  they  speak 
from  appearance,  think  from  the  truth,  which  is 


192  THE  THYME  *P/?OF/D£NC£ 

that  the  Lord  rules  the  universe  from  the  angelic 
heaven,  which  is,  from  Himself. 

That  the  simple  and  the  wise  speak  alike  but 
do  not  think  alike,  may  be  illustrated  by  the  sun 
of  the  world,  about  which  all  speak  according  to 
appearance,  saying  that  it  rises  and  sets ;  but  while 
those  who  are  wise  use  the  same  language  they 
think  of  the  sun  as  standing  unmoved,  which  is  the 
truth,  while  the  other  is  the  appearance.  Illustra- 
tions of  this  may  also  be  found  in  the  appearances 
in  the  spiritual  world  ;  for  spaces  and  distances  ap- 
pear there  as  in  the  natural  world  ;  nevertheless 
they  are  appearances  that  are  in  accord  with  the 
dissimilarity  of  affections  and  of  thoughts  there- 
from. The  same  is  true  of  the  Lord's  appearance 
in  His  sun. 

163.  How  the  Lord  leads  and  teaches  every 
man  from  the  angelic  heaven  shall  be  told  in  a  few 
words.  In  the  work  on  The  Divine  Love  and  the 
Divine  Wisdom,  and  above  in  this  work  on  the 
Divine  Providence,  and  also  in  the  work  on  Heaven 
and  Hell,  published  in  London  in  1758,  it  has  been 
made  known  from  things  seen  and  heard  that  the 
whole  angelic  heaven  appears  before  the  Lord  as 
one  man,  and  likewise  every  society  of  heaven ; 
and  that  it  is  from  this  that  every  angel  and  spirit 
is  in  complete  form  a  man.  In  the  above  men- 
tioned works  it  has  also  been  shown  that  heaven 
is  not  heaven  from  any  thing  that  striclly  belongs 
to  the  angels,  but  from  the  reception  by  angels  of 
the  Divine  love  and  wisdom  from  the  Lord.  From 


CHAPTER    fill.,  N.  164  193 

this  it  can  be  seen  that  the  Lord  rules  the  whole 
angelic  heaven  as  one  man,  and  inasmuch  as  that 
heaven  in  itself  is  a  man,  it  is  the  very  image  and 
likeness  of  the  Lord,  and  the  Lord  rules  heaven 
as  the  soul  rules  its  body ;  and  as  the  whole  hu- 
man race  is  ruled  by  the  Lord,  it  is  ruled  not 
through  -heaven  but  from  heaven  by  the  Lord,  con- 
sequently from  Himself,  because  He  is  heaven,  as 
has  been  said  before. 

164.  But  this  is  an  arcanum  of  angelic  wis- 
dom, and  therefore  cannot  be  comprehended  by 
man  unless  his  spiritual  mind  has  been  opened, — 
such  a  man,  by  virtue  of  his  conjunction  with  the 
Lord,  being  an  angel.  Such  a  man,  in  the  light 
of  what  has  already  been  said,  is  able  to  compre- 
hend what  here  follows  : — 

(i.)  All,  both  men  and  angels,  are  in  the  Lord 
and  the  Lord  in  them  in  the  measure  of  their  con- 
junction with  Him,  or,  what  is  the  same,  in  the 
measure  of  their  reception  of  love  and  wisdom  from 
Him. 

(2.)  Each  one  of  these  is  given  a  place  in  the 
Lord,  that  is,  in  heaven,  according  to  *the  quality 
of  his  conjunction  with  or  reception  of  the  Lord. 

(3.)  Each  one  in  his  place  has  his  state  distinct 
from  the  state  of  others ;  and  draws  his  portion 
from  the  common  body  according  to  his  location, 
his  function,  and  his  need,  precisely  as  each  part 
does  in  the  human  body. 

(4.)  Every  man  is  initiated  into  his  place  by 
the  Lord  according  to  his  life. 


194  THE  1DIV1NE  'PROVIDENCE 

(5.)  Every  one  from  infancy  is  introduced  into 
this  Divine  Man,  whose  soul  and  life  is  the  Lord ; 
and  in  the  Lord,  not  out  of  Him,  is  led  and  taught 
from  the  Lord's  Divine  love  according  to  His  Di- 
vine wisdom.  But  as  man  is  not  deprived  of  free- 
dom he  can  be  led  and  taught  only  in  the  measure 
of  his  recipiency  as  if  by  himself. 

(6.)  Those  who  receive  are  borne  to  their  places 
through  infinite  turnings,  as  if  by  winding  ways, 
much  as  the  chyle  is  carried  through  the  mesen- 
tery and  its  lacleals  into  the  receptacle,  and  from 
this  through  the  thoracic  duel;  into  the  blood,  and 
thus  to  its  destination. 

(7.)  Those  who  do  not  receive  are  separated 
from  those  that  are  within  the  Divine  Man,  as  ex- 
crement and  urine  are  separated  from  man. 

These  are  arcana  of  angelic  wisdom  which  man 
can  in  some  measure  comprehend ;  but  there  are 
many  others  that  he  cannot. 

165.  (iii.)  Man  is  led  by  the  Lord  by  means 
of  influx,  and  taught  by  means  of  enlightenment. — 
Man  is  lecf  by  the  Lord  by  means  of  influx,  for 
leading  and  inflowing  are  predicated  of  the  love 
and  the  will ;  and  man  is  taught  by  the  Lord  by 
means  of  enlightenment,  because  teaching  and  en- 
lightening are  predicated  only  of  wisdom  and  the 
understanding.  It  is  acknowledged  that  every 
man  is  led  by  himself  from  his  love,  and  by  others 
according  to  his  love,  and  not  by  his  understand- 
ing. He  is  led  by  his  understanding  and  in  accord- 


CHAPTER    VUL,  N.  1 66  195 

ance  with  it  when  his  love  or  will  forms  his  under- 
standing ;  and  when  this  is  done  the  understanding 
may  also  be  said  to  be  led ;  yet  even  then  it  is  not 
the  understanding  that  is  led,  but  the  will  from 
which  it  is. 

The  term  influx  is  used,  because  it  is  a  com- 
mon saying  that  the  soul  flows  into  the  body ;  also, 
as  has  been  shown  above,  that  influx  is  spiritual 
and  not  physical,  and  a  man's  soul  or  life  is  his 
love  or  will ;  also,  because  influx  is  relatively  like 
the  inflow  of  the  blood  into  the  heart,  and  from 
the  heart  into  the  lungs.  That  there  is  a  corre- 
spondence of  the  heart  with  the  will,  and  of  the 
lungs  with  the  understanding,  and  that  the  con- 
junction of  the  will  with  the  understanding  is  like 
the  inflow  of  the  blood  from  the  heart  into  the 
lungs,  has  been  shown  in  the  work  on  The  Divine 
Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom  (n.  371-432). 

lOG.  But  man  is  taught  by  means  of  enlight- 
enment, since  teaching  and  enlightenment  are  pre- 
dicated of  the  understanding ;  for  the  understand- 
ing, which  is  man's  internal  sight,  is  illumined  by 
spiritual  light,  just  as  the  eye  or  man's  external 
sight  is  illumined  by  natural  light.  Moreover,  the 
two  are  similarly  taught ;  the  internal  sight,  which 
is  that  of  the  understanding,  by  spiritual  objects; 
and  the  external  sight,  which  is  that  of  the  eye, 
by  natural  objects.  There  is  spiritual  light  and 
natural  light ;  these  are  alike  in  outward  appear- 
ance, but  internally  unlike ;  for  natural  light  is 
from  the  sun  of  the  natural  world,  and  is  therefore 


1%  THE  DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

in  itself  dead,  while  spiritual  light  is  from  the  sun 
of  the  spiritual  world,  and  is  therefore  in  itself  liv- 
ing. It  is  spiritual  light  and  not  natural  light  that 
illumines  the  human  understanding.  Natural  and 
rational  lilmen  is  from  the  former,  not  from  the  lat- 
ter. This  is  called  natural  and  rational  lumen  be- 
cause it  is  spiritual-natural. 

For  in  the  spiritual  world  there  are  three  de- 
grees of  light,  celestial  light,  spiritual  light,  and 
spiritual-natural  light.  Celestial  light  is  a  flaming 
ruddy  light.  This  is  the  light  of  those  that  are  in 
the  third  heaven.  Spiritual  light  is  a  dazzling  white 
light.  This  is  the  light  of  those  that  are  in  the 
intermediate  heaven.  Spiritual-natural  light  is  like 
the  light  of  day  in  our  world.  This  is  the  light  of 
those  that  are  in  the  lowest  heaven,  also  of  those 
that  are  in  the  world  of  spirits,  which  is  intermedi- 
ate between  heaven  and  hell  ;  but  in  the  world  of 
spirits  this  light  with  the  good  is  like  summer 
light  on  the  earth,  and  with  the  evil  like  winter 
light. 

It  must  be  understood,  however,  that  none  of 
the  light  of  the  spiritual  world  has  any  thing  in 
common  with  the  light  of  the  natural  world  ;  they 
differ  as  what  is  living  and  what  is  dead.  From 
all  this  it  is  clear  that  it  is  not  natural  light  like  that 
before  our  eyes  that  enlightens  the  understanding, 
but  spiritual  light.  Of  this  man  is  ignorant,  because 
hitherto  he  has  known  nothing  about  spiritual 
light.  That  the  origin  of  spiritual  light  is  tjie 


CHAPTER    VUL,  N.  l6"J  197 

Divine  wisdom  or  the  Divine  truth  has  been  shown 
in  the  work  on  Heaven  and  Hell  (n.  126-140). 

167.  As  the  light  of  heaven  has  been  spoken 
of,  something  must  also  be  said  about  the  light  of 
hell.  In  hell  also  there  are  three  degrees  of  light. 
In  the  lowest  hell  the  light  is  like  that  from  burn- 
ing charcoal ;  in  the  middle  hell  it  is  like  the  light 
from  the  flame  of  a  hearth  fire,  while  in  the  upper- 
most hell  it  is  like  the  light  from  candles,  and  to 
some  like  the  nocturnal  light  of  the  moon.  These 
lights  are  not  natural,  they  are  spiritual,  for  all  nat- 
ural light  is  dead,  and  extinguishes  the  understand- 
ing ;  but  those  that  are  in  hell  have  the  ability  to 
understand  that  is  called  rationality,  as  has  been 
shown  above ;  and  rationality  itself  is  from  spirit- 
ual light,  and  not  at  all  from  natural  light.  But  the 
spiritual  light  which  these  have  from  rationality 
is  changed  into  infernal  light,  as  the  light  of  day  is 
changed  into  the  darkness  of  night. 

Nevertheless,  all  in  the  spiritual  world,  both 
those  in  the  heavens  and  those  in  the  hells,  see  in 
their  light  as  clearly  as  man  sees  by  day  in  his 
light ;  and  for  the  reason  that  every  one's  eyesight 
is  formed  for  the  reception  of  the  light  in  which  it 
is.  Thus  the  eyesight  of  the  angels  of  heaven  is 
formed  for  the  reception  of  their  light ;  and  the 
eyesight  of  the  spirits  of  hell  for  the  reception  of 
their  light,  and  this  is  like  the  sight  of  owls  and 
bats,  which  see  objecls  at  night  or  in  twilight  as 
clearly  as  other  birds  see  them  by  day  ;  for  their 
eyes  are  formed  to  receive  such  light. 


198  THE  «D/FLV£  VROWDENCE 

But  the  difference  between  these  lights  is  very 
obvious  to  those  who  look  from  one  light  into  the 
other ;  as  when  an  angel  of  heaven  looks  into  hell 
he  sees  nothing  there  but  mere  thick  darkness ;  or 
when  a  spirit  of  hell  looks  into  heaven  he  sees  no- 
thing there  but  thick  darkness.  This  is  because 
heavenly  wisdom  is  like  thick  darkness  to  those 
that  are  in  hell ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  the  insan- 
ity of  hell  is  like  thick  darkness  to  those  in  heaven. 
From  all  this  it  can  be  seen  that  the  light  a  man 
has  is  such  as  his  understanding  is ;  and  that  after 
death  every  one  comes  into  his  own  light,  not  being 
able  to  see  in  any  other  ;  and  in  the  spiritual  world, 
where  all  are  spiritual  even  in  respecl:  to  their 
bodies,  each  one's  eyes  are  formed  to  see  from  their 
light.  Each  one's  life's  love  makes  an  understand- 
ing for  itself,  and  thus  a  light ;  for  love  is  like  the 
fire  of  life,  from  which  is  the  light  of  life. 

168.  As  few  know  anything  about  the  en- 
lightenment that  the  understanding  of  a  man  who 
is  taught  by  the  Lord  comes  into,  something  shall 
be  said  about  it.  There  is  an  interior  and  an  ex- 
terior enlightenment  from  the  Lord ;  and  there 
is  an  interior  and  an  exterior  enlightenment  from 
man.  By  interior  enlightenment  from  the  Lord  a 
man  perceives  at  the  first  hearing  whether  what  is 
said  is  true  or  is  not  true.  Exterior  enlighten- 
ment is  from  this  in  the  thought.  Interior  enlight- 
enment from  man  is  from  mere  confirmation ;  and 
exterior  enlightenment  from  man  is  from  mere 


CHAPTER   VIIL,  N.  1 68  199 

knowledge.     About  each   one  of  these  something 
shall  be  said. 

By  interior  enlightenment  from  the  Lord  a 
rational  man  immediately  perceives,  when  he  hears 
them,  whether  many  things  are  true  or  not  true; 
for  example,  that  love  is  the  life  of  faith,  that  is, 
that  faith  lives  from  love.  Also  by  interior  enlight- 
enment man  perceives  that  whatever  one  loves  he 
wills,  and  what  he  wills  he  does,  consequently  that 
to  love  is  to  do ;  and  again,  that  whatever  man 
believes  from  love,  this  too  he  wills  and  does,  con- 
sequently to  have  faith  is  to  do ;  also  that  a  wicked 
man  cannot  have  love  of  God,  thus  neither  faith  in 
God.  By  interior  enlightenment  a  rational  man 
perceives  as  soon  as  he  hears  it  that  God  is  One  ; 
that  He  is  omnipresent ;  that  all  good  is  from 
Him  ;  also  that  all  things  have  relation  to  good  and 
truth ;  and  that  all  good  is  from  Good  itself,  and 
all  truth  from  Truth  itself.  Man  perceives  these 
things  and  other  like  things  interiorly  in  himself 
when  he  hears  them ;  and  he  has  this  perception 
because  be  has  rationality  that  is  in  the  light  of 
heaven,  which  gives  enlightenment. 

Exterior  enlightenment  is  an  enlightenment  of 
the  thought  that  is  from  the  interior  enlightenment ; 
and  the  thought  is  in  such  enlightenment  so  far  as 
it  continues  in  the  perception  that  it  has  from  in- 
terior enlightenment,  and  so  far  as  it  has  know- 
ledges of  truth  and  good  ;  for  from  these  it  draws 
the  reasons  by  means  of  which  it  confirms.  Thought 
from  this  exterior  enlightenment  sees  a  thing  on 


200  THE  <D/F/NE  TROVIDENCE 

both  sides  ;  on  the  one  it  sees  the  reasons  that  con- 
firm,  on  the  other  the  appearances  that  invalidate ; 
the  latter  it  disperses,  the  former  it  collects. 

Interior  enlightenment  from  man  is  wholly  dif- 
ferent. By  it  man  sees  a  subject  on  one  side  and 
not  on  the  other;  and  when  he  has  confirmed  it 
he  sees  it  in  a  light  apparently  like  the  light  spok- 
en of  above,  but  it  is  a  winter  light.  For  example, 
a  judge  who  judges  unjustly  because  of  gifts  or  for 
the  sake  of  gain,  when  he  has  confirmed  his  decis- 
ion by  the  laws  and  by  reasons  sees  nothing  but 
justice  in  it.  To  some  the  injustice  may  be  evi- 
dent, but  as  they  do  not  wish  to  see  it  they  mys- 
tify and  blind  themselves,  and  thus  do  not  see. 
The  same  is  true  of  a  judge  who  is  influenced  in 
his  decisions  by  friendship,  or  by  a  desire  to  gain 
favor,  or  by  the  ties  of  relationship. 

This  class  of  men  regard  in  the  same  way  every 
thing  that  they  hear  from  the  lips  of  a  man  in 
authority,  or  a  man  of  celebrity,  or  that  they  have 
hatched  out  from  their  own  intelligence.  They  are 
rationally  blind  ;  for  they  have  their  vision  from 
falsities,  which  they  confirm  ;  and  falsity  closes  the 
sight,  while  truth  opens  it.  Such  see  no  truth  from 
the  light  of  truth,  and  no  justice  from  a  love  of 
justice,  but  only  from  the  light  of  confirmation, 
which  is  a  delusive  light.  In  the  spiritual  world 
they  appear  like  faces  without  heads,  or  like  faces 
that  resemble  human  faces  with  wooden  heads 
behind  them ;  and  they  are  called  rational  animals, 
because  they  have  rationality  potentially.  Those 


CHAPTER   VllL,  N.  I  JO  201 

have  exterior  enlightenment  from  man  who  think 
and  talk'  from  mere  knowledge  impressed  on  the 
memory.  Such  are  scarcely  able  to  confirm  any 
thing  from  themselves. 

169.  Such   are   the   differences   of  enlighten- 
ment, and  consequently  of  perception  and  thought. 
From  spiritual   light  there  is  an  aclual  enlighten- 
ment ;  but  the  enlightenment  itself  from  that  light 
is  not   manifest   to  any  one  in  the   natural  world, 
because  natural  light  has  nothing  in  common  with 
spiritual   light ;   but  this  enlightenment  has  some- 
times been  manifest  to  me  in  the  spiritual  world, 
being  visible  in  the  case  of  those  who  were  in  en- 
lightenment from  the  Lord  as  a  luminous  appear- 
ance around  the   head  glowing  with  the  color  of 
the  human   face.     But   in  the  case  of  those  that 
were  in  enlightenment  from  themselves,  this  lumin- 
ous appearance  was  not  about  the  head,  but  about 
the  mouth  and  over  the  chin. 

170.  Beside  these  kinds  of  enlightenment  there 
is  another,  by  which  it  is  revealed  to  man  in  what 
faith  and  in  what  intelligence  and  wisdom  he  is ; 
and  the  revelation  is  such  as  to  enable  him  to  per- 
ceive this  in  himself.     He  is  admitted  into  a  soci- 
ety where  there  is  genuine  faith,  also  true  intelli- 
gence and  wisdom  ;  and  there  his  interior  rationality 
is  opened,  and  from  it  he  sees  the  quality  of  his 
faith  and  his  intelligence  and  wisdom,  even  to  an 
acknowledgment  of  it.     I  have  seen  some  of  these 
on  their  return,  and  have  heard   them   confessing 
that  they  have  no  faith,  although  in  the  world  they 


202  THE  'DIVINE 

had  supposed  their  faith  to  be  abundant,  surpassing 
that  of  others,  and  their  intelligence  and'  wisdom 
to  be  the  same.  These  were  in  faith  alone,  and 
in  no  charity,  and  were  in  their  own  intelligence. 

171.  (iv.)  Man  is  taught  by  the  Lord  by  means 
of  the  Word,  and  by  means  of  doctrine  and  preach- 
ing from  the  Word,  and  thus  immediately  by  the 
Lord  alone. — It  has   been  said  and  shown  above 
that  man    is   led  and   taught  by  the  Lord  alone, 
and  this  from  heaven,  and  not  through  heaven  or 
through  any  angel  there ;  and  as  he  is  led  by  the 
Lord  alone,  it  follows  that  he  is  led  immediately 
and  not  mediately.     How  this  is  done  will  now  be 
told. 

172.  In  the  DoElrine  of  the  New  Jerusalem 
concerning  the  Sacred  Scripture  it  has  been  shown 
that  the  Lord  is  the  Word,  and  that  all  doclrine 
of  the   church   must    be    drawn   from   the   Word. 
Since,  then,  the  Lord  is  the  Word,  it  follows  that 
the  man  who   is  taught  from   the  Word  is  taught 
by  the  Lord  alone.     But  as  this  is  not  easily  com- 
prehended, it  shall   be  illustrated  in  the  following 
order:    (i.)  The    Lord    is  the  Word   because  the 
Word  is  from  Him  and  treats  of  Him.     (2.)    Also 
because  it  is  the  Divine  truth  of  the  Divine  good. 
(3.)    Thus  to  be   taught  from   the  Word  is  to  be 
taught  from  the  Lord.     (4.)    That  this  is  done  me- 
diately through  preaching  does  not  take  away  the 
immediateness. 

First :    The  Lord  is  the  Word  because  the   Word 


CHAPTER    VIIL,  N.   IJ2  203 

is  from  Him  and  treats  of  Him.  That  the  Word  is 
from  the  Lord  is  denied  by  no  one  in  the  church ; 
that  the  Word  treats  of  the  Lord  alone  is  not  de- 
nied, indeed,  but  neither  is  it  known.  This  has  been 
set  forth  in  the  Doctrine  of  the  New  Jerusalem  con- 
cerning the  Lord  (n.  1-7,  37-44)  ;  also  in  the  Doc- 
trine of  the  New  Jerusalem  concerning  the  Sacred 
Scripture  (n.  62-69,  80-90,  98-100).  Since,  then,  the 
Word  is  both  from  the  Lord  alone  and  treats  of  the 
Lord  alone,  it  follows  that  when  man  is  taught  from 
the  Word  he  is  taught  from  the  Lord,  since  the 
Word  is  the  Divine ;  and  who  except  the  essential 
Divine,  from  whom  the  Word  is  and  of  whom  it 
treats,  can  communicate  the  Divine,  and  plant  it  in 
the  heart?  When,  therefore,  the  Lord  speaks  of 
His  conjunction  with  the  disciples  He  says, 

That  they  should  abide  in  Him,  and  His  words  in  them 

(John  xv.  7). 

That  His  words  are  spirit  and  life  (John  vi.  63). 
And   that   He  makes  His  abode  with  those  who  keep 

His  words  (John  xiv.  20-24). 

To  think  from  the  Lord,  therefore,  is  to  think  from 
the  Word,  seemingly  through  the  Word.  That 
all  things  of  the  Word  have  communication  with 
heaven  has  been  shown  in  the  Doctrine  of  the 
New  Jerusalem  concerning  the  Sacred  Scripture, 
throughout.  And  since  the  Lord  is  heaven,  this 
means  that  all  things  of  the  Word  have  communi- 
cation with  the  Lord  Himself.  It  is  true  that  the 
angels  of  heaven  have  communication ;  but  this, 
too,  is  from  the  Lord. 


204  THE  'DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

Secondly  :  The  Lord  is  the  Word,  because  it  is 
the  Divine  truth  of  the  Divine  good.  That  the  Lord 
is  the  Word  He  teaches  in  John  in  these  words  : 

"  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with 
God,  and  the  Word  was  God ; and  the  Word  be- 
came flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us"  (John  i.  i,  14). 

As  heretofore  this  has  been  understood  to  mean 
only  that  God  taught  men  through  the  Word,  it 
has  been  explained  as  a  hyperbolical  expression, 
not  meaning  that  the  Lord  is  the  Word  itself;  and 
for  the  reason  that  it  was  unknown  that  by  "the 
Word"  the  Divine  truth  of  the  Divine  good  is 
meant,  or,  what  is  the  same,  the  Divine  wisdom  of 
the  Divine  love.  That  these  are  the  Lord  Himself 
is  shown  in  Part  First  of  the  work  on  The  Divine 
Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom;  and  that  these  are 
the  Word  is  shown  in  the  Doctrine  of  the  New  Je- 
rusalem concerning  the  Sacred  Scripture  (n.  1-86). 

How  the  Lord  is  the  Divine  truth  of  the  Divine 
good  shall  also  be  briefly  told.  Every  man  is  a 
man  not  from  his  face  and  body  but  from  the  good 
of  his  love  and  from  the  truths  of  his  wisdom  ;  and 
because  it  is  from  these  that  a  man  is  a  man, 
every  man  is  also  his  own  truth  and  his  own  good, 
or  his  own  love  and  his  own  wisdom.  Apart  from 
these  he  is  not  a  man.  But  the  Lord  is  good  itself 
and  truth  itself,  or,  what  is  the  same,  He  is  love 
itself  and  wisdom  itself;  and  these  are  the  Word 
which  was  in  the  beginning  with  God  and  which 
was  God,  and  which  became  flesh. 


CHAPTER   V1IL,  N.  17 2  205 

Thirdly  :  Thus  to  be  taught  from  the  Word  is 
to  be  taught  by  the  Lord  Himself,  because  it  is  to 
be  taught  from  good  itself  and  truth  itself,  or  from 
love  itself  and  from  wisdom  itself,  which  are  the 
Word,  as  has  been  said.  But  every  one  is  taught 
according  to  the  understanding  that  belongs  to  his 
own  l,ove ;  what  is  beyond  this  is  not  permanent. 
All  those  who  are  taught  by  the  Lord  in  the  Word 
are  taught  a  few  truths  in  the  world,  but  many 
when  they  become  angels  ;  for  the  interiors  of  the 
Word,  which  are  Divine  spiritual  and  Divine  celes- 
tial things,  although  implanted  at  the  same  time, 
are  not  opened  in  man  until  after  his  death,  thus  in 
heaven,  where  he  is  in  angelic  wisdom,  which  in 
comparison  with  human  wisdom,  that  is,  man's  for- 
mer wisdom,  is  ineffable.  That  Divine  spiritual  and 
Divine  celestial  things,  which  constitute  angelic 
wisdom,  are  present  in  all  things  and  in  each  thing 
of  the  Word,  may  be  seen  in  the  DocJrine  of  the 
New  Jerusalem  concerning  the  Sacred  Scripture 
(n.  5-26). 

Fourthly :  That  this  is  done  mediately  through 
preaching  does  not  take  away  the  immediateness. 
The  Word  must  needs  be  taught  mediately  through 
parents,  teachers,  preachers,  books,  and  especially 
the  reading  of  it.  Nevertheless  it  is  not  taught 
by  these,  but  by  the  Lord  through  them.  And  this 
the  preachers  know,  and  they  say  that  they  do  not 
speak  from  themselves  but  from  the  spirit  of  God, 
and  that  all  truth,  like  all  good,  is  from  God.  They 
are  able,  indeed,  to  declare  the  Word,  and  bring 


206  THE  TUVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

it  to  the  understanding  of  many,  but  not  to  the 
heart  of  any  one  ;  and  what  is  not  in  the  heart  per- 
ishes in  the  understanding;  "the  heart"  meaning 
man's  love.  From  all  this  it  can  be  seen  that  man 
is  led  and  taught  by  the  Lord  alone,  and  is  led  and 
taught  immediately  by  Him  when  this  is  done  from 
the  Word.  This  is  the  arcanum  of  arcana  of  an- 
gelic wisdom. 

173.  That  by  means  of  the  Word  they  also 
have  light  who  are  not  in  the  church  and  do  not 
have  the  Word  is  shown  in  the  DocJrine  of  the 
New  Jerusalem  concerning  the  Sacred  Scripture 
(n.  104-113).  And  since  man  has  light  through 
the  Word,  and  from  that  light  has  understanding, 
and  as  both  the  evil  and  the  good  have  understand- 
ing, it  follows  that  from  the  light  in  its  origin  there 
is  light  in  its  derivatives,  which  are  perceptions  and 
thoughts  respecting  all  subjects.  The  Lord  says, 

That  without  Him  man  can  do  nothing  (John  xv.  5). 

That  a  man  can  receive  nothing  except  it  has  been 
given  him  from  heaven  (John  iii.  27). 

And  that  the  Father  in  the  heavens  maketh^His  sun  to 
rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good,  and  sendeth  rain  on 
the  just  and  on  the  unjust  (Matt.  v.  45). 

By  "the.  sun,"  here  as  elsewhere  in  the  Word,  is 
meant  in  its  spiritual  sense  the  Divine  good  of  the 
Divine  love  ;  and  by  "rain,"  the  Divine  truth  of  the 
Divine  wisdom.  These  are  given  to  the  evil  and 
the  good,  to  the  just  and  the  unjust;  for  unless 
they  were  given  no  one  would  have  perception 
and  thought.  That  there  is  only  one  life,  from 


CHAPTER    Vlll.,  N.  174  207 

which  all  have  life,  has  been  shown  above ;  and 
perception  and  thought  belong  to  life,  consequently 
perception  and  thought  are  from  the  same  fount- 
ain from  which  life  is.  That  all  the  light  that  con- 
stitutes the  understanding  is  from  the  sun  of  the 
spiritual  world,  which  is  the  Lord,  has  already  been 
fully  shown. 

X74.  (v.)  In  externals  man  is  led  and  taught 
by  the  Lord  in  all  appearance  as  if  by  himself.— 
This  takes  place  in  man's  externals,  but  not  in 
internals.  How  the  Lord  leads  and  teaches  man  in 
his  internals  no  one  knows,  as  no  one  knows  how 
the  soul  operates  to  cause  the  eye  to  see,  the  ear  to 
hear,  the  tongue  and  mouth  to  speak,  the  heart  to 
move  the  blood,  the  lungs  to  breathe,  the  stomach 
to  digest,  the  liver  and  pancreas  to  assort,  the  kid- 
neys to  secrete,  and  countless  other  things.  These 
things  do  not  come  to  man's  perception  and  sensa- 
tion. The  same  is  true  of  what  is  done  by  the 
Lord  in  the  interior  substances  and  forms  of  the 
mind,  which  are  infinitely  more  numerous ;  the 
Lord's  operations  in  these  are  not  manifest  to  man. 
But  the  effecls,  which  are  numerous,  are  mani- 
fest, as  well  as  some  of  the  causes  producing  the 
effecls.  These  are  the  externals  wherein  man  and 
the  Lord  are  together.  And  because  externals 
make  one  with  internals  (for  they  cohere  in  one 
series),  the  Lord  can  restore  order  in  internals  only 
in  accordance  with  the  disposition  that  is  effeded 
by  means  of  man  in  the  externals. 


208  THE  ^DIVINE  TROVIDENCE 

Every  one  recognizes  that  man  thinks,  wills, 
speaks,  and  acls  to  all  appearance  as  if  from  himself; 
and  every  one  can  see  that  without  this  appearance 
man  would  have  no  will  or  understanding,  thus  no 
affeclion  or  thought,  also  no  reception  of  any  good 
and  truth  from  the  Lord.  This  being  so  it  follows 
that  without  this  appearance  there  would  be  no 
knowledge  of  God,  no  charity  or  faith,  and  conse- 
quently no  reformation  or  regeneration,  and  there- 
fore no  salvation.  From  all  this  it  is  clear  that  this 
appearance  is  given  to  man  by  the  Lord  for  the 
sake  of  all  these  uses,  and  chiefly  that  man  may 
have  the  ability  to  receive  and  to  reciprocate, 
whereby  the  Lord  may  be  conjoined  with  him  and 
he  with  the  Lord,  and  that  through  this  conjunc- 
tion man  may  live  forever.  This  is  the  appearance 
here  meant. 


IX. 


IT  IS  A  LAW  OF  THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  THAT  NOTHING  OF 
THE  OPERATION  OF  THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  SHOULD 
BE  EVIDENT  TO  MAN'S  PERCEPTIONS  OR  SENSES,  BUT 
THAT  HE  SHOULD,  NEVERTHELESS,  KNOW  ABOUT  IT 
AND  ACKNOWLEDGE  IT. 

175- 

THE  natural  man  who  does  not  believe  in 
Divine  providence  thinks  to  himself,  "  What 
is  Divine  providence,  when  the  wicked  are  ad- 
vanced to  honors  and  acquire  riches  more  than 
the  good,  and  when  those  who  do  not  believe  in 
a  Divine  providence  are  more  successful  in  many 
like  respects  than  those  who  doj*  And  still  fur- 
ther, the  unbelieving  and  impious  can  inflict  in- 
juries, wrongs,  and  misfortunes,  and  sometimes 
death,  upon  the  believing  and  pious,  and  this  by 
means  of  deceptions  and  tricks."  Therefore  he 
thinks,  "  Do  I  not  see  from  actual  observation  as  in 
clear  daylight  that  crafty  devices,  when  by  ingen- 
ious shrewdness  they  can  be  made  to  seem  trust- 
worthy and  just,  prevail  over  fidelity  and  justice? 
What  else  is  there,  then,  except  necessities,  conse- 
quences, and  things  of  chance,  in  which  nothing 
from  a  Divine  providence  is  manifest?  Do  not 
necessities  belong  to  nature?  Are  not  conse- 
quences the  causes  that  flow  from  natural  or  civil 


210  THE   DIVINE  <PROV1DENCE 

order  ?  And  are  not  things  of  chance  either  from 
unknown  causes  or  from  no  cause?"  Thus  the 
natural  man  thinks  to  himself,  ascribing  nothing  to 
God,  but  all  things  to  nature  ;  for  he  that  attributes 
nothing  to  God  attributes  nothing  to  Divine  pro- 
vidence ;  since  God  and  Divine  providence  make 
one. 

But  the  spiritual  man  speaks  or  thinks  to  him- 
self differently.  Although  he  has  in  his  thought 
no  perception  of  the  Divine  providence  in  its 
course,  nor  is  made  sensible  of  it  by  the  sight  of 
the  eye,  still  he  knows  about  it  and  acknowledges 
it.  Since,  then,  the  appearances  and  consequent 
fallacies  above  mentioned  have  blinded  the  under- 
standing, and  this  can  receive  no  sight  until  the 
fallacies  that  have  blinded  it  and  the  falsities  that 
have  darkened  it  are  dispelled,  and  since  this  can- 
not be  done  except  by  truths,  which  have  in  them 
the  power  to  dispel  falsities,  therefore  these  truths 
shall  be  disclosed,  and  for  the  sake  of  distinctness, 
in  the  following  order : 

(i.)  If  the  operation  of  the  Divine  providence 
were  made  evident  to  mans  perceptions 
and  senses  he  would  not  aft  from  free- 
dom  in  accordance  with  reason;  nor 
would  any  thing  seem  to  him  to  be  from 
himself.  It  would  be  the  same  if  he 
foreknew  events. 

(ii.)  If  man  clearly  saw  the  Divine  providence 
he  would  set  himself  against  the  order 
and  tenor  of  its  course,  and  would  per- 
vert and  destroy  it. 

(iii.)    If  man  clearly  saw  the  Divine  providence 


CHAPTER  IX.,  N.   1 76  211 

either  he  would  deny  God  or  he  would 
make  himself  to  be  God. 

(iv.)  //  is  granted  man  to  see  the  Divine  provid- 
ence in  the  back  and  not  in. the  face; 
and  to  see  it  in  a  spiritual  state  and  not 
in  a  natural  state. 


176.  (i.)  If  the  operation  of  the  Divine  provid- 
ence were  made,  evident  to  man's  perceptions  and 
senses  he  would  not  act  from  freedom  in  accord- 
ance with  reason;  nor  would  any  thing  seem  to  him 
to  be  his.  It  would  be  the  same  if  he  foreknew 
events. — It  has  been  made  evident  to  the  under- 
standing in  its  proper  chapters  above  that  it  is  a  law 
of  the  Divine  providence  that  man  should  act  from 
freedom  in  accordance  with  reason,  also  that  every 
thing  a  man  wills,  thinks,  speaks,  and  does  should 
seem  to  him  to  be  from  himself ;  also  that  without 
this  appearance  no  man  would  have  any  thing  as 
his  own  (suus),  nor  would  he  be  his  own  man  (homo 
SUMS)  ;  thus  he  would  have  no  ownhood  (proprium) ; 
and  therefore  nothing  could  be  imputed  to  him  ; 
and  without  such  imputation  it  would  be  a  matter 
of  indifference  whether  he  did  evil  or  good,  whether 
he  had  the  faith  of  God  or  the  persuasion  of  hell ; 
in  a  word,  he  would  not  be  man. 

It  shall  now  be  shown  that  man  would  have  no 
liberty  to  acl:  in  accordance  with  reason,  and  no- 
thing would  seem  to  him  to  be  from  himself,  if  the 
operation  of  the  Divine  providence  were  made  evi- 
dent to  his  perceptions  and  senses  ;  since,  if  it  were 
thus  made  evident  he  would  be  led  by  it ;  for  the 


212  THE  T)1VINE  'PROVIDENCE 

Lord  leads  all  by  means  of  His  Divine  providence, 
and  man  leads  himself  only  in  appearance,  as  has 
also  been  shown  above.  Consequently  if  man  were 
led  in  accord  with  a  living  perception  and  sensa- 
tion he  would  not  be  conscious  of  life,  but  he  would 
be  moved  to  utter  sounds  and  to  acl;  much  like  a 
carved  image.  If  he  were  still  conscious  of  life  he 
would  be  led  like  one  bound  hand  and  foot,  or  like 
a  beast  before  a  cart.  Who  does  not  see  that  a 
man  would  then  have  no  freedom  ?  And  if  he  had 
no  freedom  he  would  have  no  reason  ;  for  every  one 
thinks  from  freedom  and  in  freedom  ;  and  whatever 
he  does  not  think  from  freedom  and  in  freedom 
does  not  seem  to  him  to  be  from  himself  but  from 
another ;  in  fa6t,  if  you  consider  it  interiorly  you 
will  perceive  that  he  would  then  have  no  thought, 
still  less  any  reason,  and  therefore  would  not  be  a 
man. 

177.  The  operation  of  the  Lord's  Divine  pro- 
vidence to  withdraw  man  from  evils  is  constant. 
If  this  constant  operation  were  evident  to  man's 
perceptions  and  senses,  and  he  were  not  led  as  one 
bound,  would  he  not  continually  struggle  against 
it,  and  thus  either  strive  with  God  or  mix  himself 
in  with  Divine  providence  ?  If  the  latter  he  would 
make  himself  God ;  if  the  former  he  would  release 
himself  from  restraint  and  deny  God.  It  is  clearly 
evident  that  there  would  then  be  two  powers  con- 
tinually acling  against  each  other,  the  power  of  evil 
from  man  and  the  power  of  good  from  the  Lord  ; 
and  when  these  two  opposites  acl;  against  each 


CHAPTER   IX.,  N.   Ij8  213 

other  one  of  them  conquers  or  both  perish  ;  and 
in  this  case  if  one  conquers  they  both  perish,  for 
the  evil  that  belongs  to  man  does  not  instantly  re- 
ceive good  from  the  Lord,  nor  does  good  from  the 
Lord  instantly  cast  out  evil  from  man  ;  if  either 
were  done  instantly  there  would  be  no  life  left  to 
man.  These  and  many  other  harmful  results  would 
ensue  if  the  operation  of  the  Divine  providence  were 
clearly  evident  to  man's  perceptions  and  senses. 
But  this  will  be  shown  fully  in  what  follows. 

178.  A  knowledge  of  future  events  is  not 
granted  to  man  for  the  same  reason,  namely,  that 
he  may  have  the  ability  to  act  from  freedom  in 
accordance  with  reason  ;  for  it  is  known  that  any 
thing  that  a  man  loves  he  wills  to  possess  in  effect, 
and  he  leads  himself  thereto  by  means  of  his  rea- 
son ;  also  that  every  thing  that  a  man  contemplates 
in  his  reason  is  from  a  love  for  ^  it  to  come  into 
effect  by  means  of  his  thought.  If,  therefore,  he 
knew  the  effect  or  event  by  Divine  prediction  his 
reason  would  cease  to  act,  and  with  it  his  love ; 
for  the  love  rests  with  the  reason  in  the  effect, 
and  from  the  effect  begins  anew.  It  is  reason's 
essential  delight  to  see  from  love  the  effect  in  the 
thought,  not  after  but  before  the  effect  is  reached, 
that  is,  not  in  the  present  but  in  the  future.  This 
is  the  source  of  what  is  called  Hope,  which  in- 
creases and  decreases  in  the  reason  as  man  sees 
or  anticipates  the  event.  This  delight  is  made  com- 
plete in  the  event,  and  thereafter  fades  away  with 
the  thought  belonging  to  it. 


214  THE  IJIYINE 

Thus  would  it  be  if  the  event  were  foreknown. 
The  mind  of  man  is  continually  in  three  things, 
called  end,  cause,  and  effect.  If  one  of  these  is 
lacking,  the  human  mind  is  not  in  its  life.  The 
affection  of  the  will  is  the  end  from  which ;  the 
thought  of  the  understanding  is  the  cause  by  which  ; 
and  the  action  of  the  body  or  the  speech  of  the  lips, 
or  external  sensation,  is  the  effect  of  the  end  by 
means  of  the  thought.  That  the  human  mind  is 
not  in  its  life  when  it  is  in  the  affection  of  the  will 
alone,  and  nothing  follows,  or  when  it  is  likewise 
merely  in  the  effect,  must  be  clear  to  any  one. 
Thus  the  mind  has  no  life  from  one  of  these  sep- 
arately, but  from  the  three  conjointly.  This  life  of 
the  mind  would  be  diminished  and  pass  away  if 
the  event  were  foretold. 

'179.  As  a  knowledge  of  future  events  takes 
away  the  human  itself,  which  is  to  act  from  freedom 
in  accordance  with  reason,  a  knowledge  of  the  fu- 
ture is  granted  to  no  one ;  nevertheless,  every  one 
is  permitted  to  form  conclusions  about  the  future 
from  the  reason  ;  and  in  this  the  reason  with  all  that 
pertains  to  it  finds  its  proper  life.  This  is  why  a 
man  is  not  permitted  to  know  what  his  lot  will  be 
after  death,  or  to  know  about  any  event  until  he 
is  in  it ;  for  if  he  knew  this  he  would  cease  to 
think  from  his  interior  self  how  he  must  act  or 
must  live  in  order  to  come  into  it ;  but  he  would 
simply  think  from  his  exterior  self  that  he  was  com- 
ing into  it :  and  such  a  state  closes  the  interiors  of 
his  mind,  in  which  the  two  faculties  of  his  life,  lib- 


CHAPTER   IX.,  N.   IjQ  215 

erty  and  rationality,  have  their  chief  seat.  A  long- 
ing to  know  things  future  is  innate  with  most  peo- 
ple ;  but  this  longing  has  its  origin  in  a  love  of 
evil,  and  is  therefore  taken  away  from  those  who 
believe  in  the  Divine  providence  ;  and  there  is  given 
them  a  trust  that  the  Lord  is  directing  their  lot,  and 
consequently  they  have  no  wish  to  know  before- 
hand what  it  will  be,  lest  they  should  ia  some 
way  interfere  with  the  Divine  providence.  -  This 
is  taught  by  the  Lord  in  a  variety  of  ways  in  Luke 
(xii.  14-48). 

That  this  is  a  law  of  the  Divine  providence  can 
be  shown  by  many  things  in  the  spiritual  world. 
Most  persons  when  they  enter  that  world  after 
death  wish  to  know  their  lot.  They  are  told  that 
if  they  have  lived  well  their  lot  is  in  heaven,  if  they 
have  lived  wickedly  it  is  in  hell.  But  as  every  one 
fears  hell,  even  the  evil,  they  ask  what  they  must 
do  and  what  they  must  believe  to  gain  entrance  to 
heaven  ;  and  the  answer  is  that  while  they  can  do 
and  believe  as  they  will,  they  may  be  sure  that  in 
hell  good  is  not  done  or  truth  believed,  but  only 
in  heaven.  "  If  you  are  able,  seek  to  know  what  is 
good  and  what  is  true,  and  think  the  truth  and  do 
the  good."  Thus  in  the  spiritual  world  as  in  the 
natural  world  all  are  left  to  acl;  from  freedom  in 
accordance  with  reason  ;  but  as  they  have  acled 
in  this  world  so  do  they  in  that ;  for  every  one's 
life  is  continued,  and  from  this  is  his  lot ;  for  the 
lot  is  according  to  the  life. 


216  THE  'DIYINE  TROWDENCE 

180.  (ii. )  If  man  clearly  saw  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence he  would  set  himself  against  the  order  and 
tenor  of  its  course,  and  would  pervert  and  destroy  it. 
— To  bring  this  clearly  to  the  perception  of  the 
rational  man  and  of  the  natural  man  it  must  be 
illustrated  by  examples  in  this  order  :  ( i . )  Ex- 
ternals are  so  connected  with  internals  as  to  make 
one  in,, every  operation.  (2.)  Only  in  certain  ex- 
ternals is  man  associated  with  the  Lord  ;  and  if  he 
were  at  the  same  time  in  the  internals  he  would 
pervert  and  destroy  the  whole  order  and  tenor  of 
the  course  of  the  Divine  providence.  But,  as  has 
been  said,  this  shall  be  illustrated  by  examples. 

First  :  Externals  are  so  connected  with  internals 
as  to  make  one  in  every  operation. — In  illustration 
of  this  by  examples  take  certain  parts  of  the  human 
body.  In  the  whole  body  and  in  every  part  there 
are  both  externals  and  internals  ;  the  externals  are 
called  skins,  membranes,  and  sheaths,  the  internals 
are  forms  variously  composed  and  interwoven  of 
nerve  fibres  and  blood  vessels.  The  surrounding 
sheath,  by  continuations  from  itself,  enters  into  all 
the  interiors  even  to  the  inmosts  ;  thus  the  external, 
which  is  a  sheath,  conjoins  itself  with  all  the  inter- 
nals, which  are  the  organic  forms,  fibrous  and  vas- 
cular. From  this  it  follows  that  as  the  external 
acls  or  is  a6led  upon  so  the  internal  acls  or  is  a6led 
upon  ;  for  there  is  a  constant  bundling  together  of 
them  all. 

Take  some  general  sheath  in  the  body,  the 
pleura,  for  example,  which  is  the  general  sheath 


CHAPTER   IX.,  N.   1 80  217 

of  the  chest,  or  of  the  heart  and  lungs,  and  exam- 
ine it  with  an  anatomical  eye,  or  if  you  have  not 
made  anatomy  a  study  consult  anatomists  ;  and 
you  will  learn  that  this  general  sheath,  by  various 
circumvolutions  and  then  by  continuations  from 
itself,  becoming  finer  and  finer,  enters  into  the  in- 
mosts  of  the  lungs,  even  into  the  smallest  bronchial 
branches,  and  into  the  follicles  that  are  the  begin- 
nings of  the  lungs ;  not  to  mention  its  subsequent 
progress  through  the  trachea  to  the  larynx  toward 
the  tongue.  From  all  this  it  is  evident  that  there 
is  a  constant  connection  between  the  outermosts 
and  the  inmosts ;  consequently  as  the  outermost 
acts  or  is  acted  upon  so  the  interiors  from  the  in- 
mosts act  or  are  acted  upon.  For  this  reason,  when 
this  outermost  sheath,  the  pleura,  is  congested  or 
inflamed  or  ulcerated,  the  lungs  labor  from  their 
inmosts ;  and  if  the  disease  grows  worse  all  action 
of  the  lungs  may  cease  and  the  man  die. 

It  is  the  same  everywhere  else  in  the  whole 
body  ;  as  with  the  peritoneum,  which  is  the  general 
sheath  of  all  the  abdominal  viscera ;  also  the  sheaths 
surrounding  the  several  organs,  as  the  stomach, 
liver,  pancreas,  spleen,  intestines,  mesentery,  kid- 
neys, and  the  organs  of  generation  in  either  sex. 
Take  any  one  of  these  abdominal  viscera,  and 
either  examine  it  yourself  and  you  will  see,  or  ask 
those  skilled  in  anatomy  and  you  will  learn. 
Take,  for  instance,  the  liver,  and  you  will  find  that 
there  is  a  connection  between  the  sheath  of  that 
organ  and  the  peritoneum,  and  through  the  sheath 


218  THE  DIVINE  ^ROVIDENCE 

with  its  inmosts ;  for  there  are  constant  extensions 
from  the  sheath,  with  insertions  towards  the  inte- 
rior parts,  and  in  this  way  continuations  to  the 
inmosts ;  and  by  these  means  all  the  parts  are  so 
bound  together  that  when  the  sheath  acts  or  is 
acted  upon  the  whole  form  acts  or  is  acted  upon 
in  like  manner.  It  is  the  same  with  the  other 
organs  ;  and  this  is  because  in  every  form  the  gen- 
eral and  the  particular,  or  the  universal  and  the 
special,  by  wonderful  conjunction,  act  as  one. 

It  will  be  shown  below  that  in  spiritual  forms 
and  in  the  changes  and  variations  of  their  state, 
which  have  relation  to  the  operations  of  the  will 
and  the  understanding,  the  same  order  prevails  as 
in  natural  forms  and  their  operations,  which  have 
relation  to  motion  and  action.  Since,  then,  man 
is  associated  with  the  Lord  in  certain  external  oper- 
ations, and  since  no  one  is  ever  deprived  of  the  lib- 
erty of  acting  in  accordance  with  reason,  it  follows 
that  the  Lord's  action  in  internals  must  be  the  same 
as  his  action  in  association  with  man  in  externals. 
If  man,  therefore,  does  not  shun  and  turn  away 
from  evils  as  sins,  not  only  does  the  external  of  the 
thought  and  will  become  vitiated  and  destroyed, 
but  the  internals  of  them  at  the  same  time ;  com- 
paratively as  the  pleura  is  attacked  by  its  disease 
called  pleurisy,  which  causes  the  death  of  the  body. 

Secondly :  If  man  should  be  at  the  same  time 
in  the  internals  he  would  pervert  and  destroy  the 
whole  order  and  tenor  of  the  Divine  providence. — 
This,  too,  may  be  illustrated  by  examples  from  the 


CHAPTER  IX.,  N.   1 80  219 

human  body.  If  man  knew  all  the  workings  of 
both  brains  into  fibres,  of  fibres  into  muscles,  and 
of  muscles  into  actions,  and  from  this  knowledge 
were  to  direct  all  things  as  he  does  his  actions, 
would  he  not  pervert  and  destroy  them  all  ? 

If  a  man  knew  how  the  stomach  digests,  how 
the  surrounding  viscera  absorb  each  its  portion, 
elaborate  the  blood  and  distribute  it  to  every  oper- 
ation of  life,  and  if  he  had  the  ordering  of  these 
things  as  he  has  of  external  things,  such  as  eating 
and  drinking,  would  he  not  pervert  and  destroy 
them  all  ?  When  he  is  unable  to  order  the  exter- 
nal, that  appears  like  a  single  thing,  without  de- 
stroying it  by  luxury  and  intemperance,  what  would 
he  do  if  he  had  the  ordering  of  the  internals,  which 
are  infinite  ?  This  is  why  the  internals,  lest  man' s 
will  should  in  some  way  enter  into  them  and  get 
control  of  them,  are  wholly  exempt  from  his  voli- 
tion, except  the  muscles,  which  constitute  the  cov- 
ering ;  and  he  does  not  know  even  how  these  act, 
he  only  knows  that  they  act. 

It  is  the  same  with  the  other  organs  ;  as,  for 
example,  if  man  were  to  have  the  ordering  of  the 
interiors  of  the  eye  for  seeing,  of  the  interiors  of 
the  ear  for  hearing,  of  the  interiors  of  the  tongue 
for  tasting,  of  the  interiors  of  the  skin  for  feeling, 
of  the  interiors  of  the  heart  in  its  beating,  of  the 
lungs  in  breathing,  of  the  mesentery  in  distributing 
the  chyle,  of  the  kidneys  in  their  work  of  secretion, 
of  the  organs  of  generation  in  propagating,  of  the 
womb  in  perfecting  the  embryo,  and  so  on,  would 


220  THE   TW/NE   'PROVIDENCE 

he  not  in  numberless  ways  pervert  and  destroy  in 
them  the  order  of  the  course  of  the  Divine  provid- 
ence? Every  one  knows  that  man  is  in  the  ex- 
ternals ;  that  is,  he  sees  with  the  eye,  hears  with  the 
ear,  tastes  with  the  tongue,  feels  with  the  skin, 
breathes  with  the  lungs,  contributes  to  propaga- 
tion, and  so  on.  Is  it  not  sufficient  for  him  to  know 
about  the  externals,  and  to  order  them  for  the 
health  of  body  and  mind  ?  If  he  cannot  do  this, 
what  would  happen  if  he  had  the  ordering  of  the 
internals  ?  From  all  this  it  is  evident  that  if  a  man 
clearly  saw  the  Divine  providence  he  would  set 
himself  against  the  order  and  tenor  of  its  course, 
and  would  pervert  and  destroy  it. 

181.  There  is  a  likeness  between  the  spiritual 
things  of  the  mind  and  the  natural  things  of  the 
body,  because  all  things  of  the  mind  correspond 
to  all  things  of  the  body  ;  therefore  also  the  mind 
actuates  the  body  in  externals,  in  general  with 
complete  control.  It  moves  the  eye  to  see,  the 
ear  to  hear,  the  mouth  and  the  tongue  to  eat  and 
drink,  also  to  speak,  the  hands  to  acl,  the  feet  to 
walk,  the  generative  organs  to  propagate.  The 
mind  moves  not  only  the  externals  to  these  actions, 
but  the  internals  also  throughout  the  whole  series, 
the  outmosts  from  the  inmosts,  and  the  inmosts  from 
the  outmosts.  Thus  while  it  is  moving  the  mouth 
to  speak,  it  simultaneously  moves  the  lungs,  the 
larynx,  the  glottis,  the  tongue,  the  lips,  each  one 
separately  to  the  performance  of  its  function,  also 
the  face  to  fitting  expression. 


CHAPTER  IX.,  N.  182  221 

This  makes  clear  that  what  has  been  said  of 
the  natural  forms  of  the  body  can  be  said  also  of 
the  spiritual  forms  of  the  mind  ;  and  that  what  has 
been  said  of  the  natural  operations  of  the  body  can 
be  said  of  the  spiritual  operations  of  the  mind  ; 
consequently  as  man  orders  the  externals  so  the 
Lord  orders  the  internals  ;  thus  in  one  way  when 
man  orders  the  externals  from  himself,  and  in  an- 
other way  when  he  orders  the  externals  from  the 
Lord  and  at  the  same  time  as  if  from  himself. 

Moreover,  man's  mind  in  its  entire  form  is  a 
man  ;  for  it  is  man's  spirit  ;  and  this  after  death 
appears  a  man  precisely  as  in  the  world  ;  conse- 
quently there  are  like  things  in  body  and  mind. 
So  what  has  been  said  of  the  conjunction  of  exter- 
nals with  internals  in  the  'body  can  also  be  applied 
to  the  conjunction  of  externals  with  internals  in  the 
mind,  with  the  difference  only  that  one  is  natural 
and  the  other  spiritual. 

182.  (iii. )  If  man  clearly  saw  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence, either  he  would  deny  God  or  he  would  make 
himself  to  be  God. — The  merely  natural  man  says 
to  himself,  ' '  What  is  Divine  providence  ?  Is  it  any 
thing  else  or  more  than  a  phrase  that  the  com- 
mon people  have  learned  from  the  priest?  Who 
sees  anything  of  it?  Are  not  all  things  in  the  world 
done  from  prudence,  wisdom,  shrewdness,  and  cun- 
ning ?  And  are  not  all  other  things  necessities  and 
consequences  ?  And  besides  there  are  many  hap- 
penings. Does  the  Divine  providence  lie  concealed 


222  THE  DIVINE  TRO1/IDENCE 

in  these?  How  can  it  be  in  frauds  and  craft?  Yet 
it  is  said  that  the  Divine  providence  does  every- 
thing. Then  make  me  see  it,  and  I  will  believe 
it.  Can  any  one  believe  it  before  he  sees  it?" 

So  says  the  merely  natural  man ;  but  the  spir- 
itual man  speaks  otherwise.  Because  he  acknow- 
ledges God  he  also  acknowledges  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence, and  moreover,  he  sees  it.  But  he  can- 
not make  it  manifest  to  any  one  who  thinks  only  in 
nature  and  from  nature ;  for  such  a  one  is  unable  to 
lift  his  mind  above  nature  and  to  see  in  its  appear- 
ances something  of  Divine  providence,  or  to  draw 
conclusions  respecting  it  from  the  laws  of  nature, 
which  also  are  laws  of  the  Divine  wisdom.  If, 
therefore,  he  should  clearly  see  the  Divine  provid- 
ence he  would  confound"  it  with  nature,  and  thus 
would  not  only  enshroud  it  in  fallacies  but  would 
also  profane  it ;  and  instead  of  acknowledging  it  he 
would  deny  it ;  and  he  who  in  heart  denies  the 
Divine  providence  denies  God  also. 

It  must  be  thought  that  either  God  or  nature 
governs  all  things.  He  who  thinks  that  God  gov- 
erns all  things  thinks  that  they  are  governed  by 
Love  itself  and  Wisdom  itself,  thus  by  Life  itself. 
But  he  who  thinks  that  nature  governs  all  things 
thinks  that  they  are  governed  by  natural  heat  and 
light,  and  yet  these  in  themselves. are  dead,  because 
they  are  from  the  sun  that  is  dead.  Does  not  what 
is  itself  living  govern  what  is  dead?  Has  what  is 
dead  the  power  to  govern  anything?  If  you  think 


CHAPTER   IX.,  N.   183  223 

that  what  is  dead  can    give  life  to  itself    you  are 
insane.      Life  must  be  from  Life. 

183*  That  if  the  Divine  providence  and  its 
operation  were  clearly  seen  by  man  he  would 
deny  God  does  not  appear  probable  ;  for  it  would 
seem  that  if  it  were  clearly  seen  by  any  one  he 
could  not  but  acknowledge  it,  and  thus  acknow- 
ledge God  ;  yet  the  contrary  is  the  truth.  The 
Divine  providence  never  a6ls  in  accord  with  the 
will's  love  in  man,  but  constantly  against  it  ;  since 
man,  because  of  his  hereditary  evil,  is  always  pant- 
ing for  the  lowest  hell  ;  but  the  Lord  by  His  pro- 
vidence is  constantly  leading  and  drawing  him 
away  from  it,  first  to  a  milder  hell,  then  out  of 
hell,  and  finally  to  Himself  in  heaven.  This  oper- 
ation of  the  Divine  providence  is  constant.  Conse- 
quently if  man  clearly  saw  or  felt  this  drawing  or 
leading  away  he  would  be  angry,  and  would  regard 
God  as  his  enemy,  and  from  the  evil  of  his  self- 
hood (proprium)  would  deny  God.  Consequently, 
lest  this  be  known  to  man  he  is  kept  in  a  state  of 
freedom  from  which  he  knows  no  otherwise  than 
that  he  leads  himself. 

But  let  examples  serve  for  illustration.  By  in- 
heritance man  possesses  a  desire  to  become  great ; 
he  has  also  a  desire  to  gain  riches  ;  and  so  far  as 
these  loves  are  unrestrained  he  longs  to  become 
greater  and  richer,  and  at  length  to  be  greatest  and 
richest ;  nor  would  he  rest  here  ;  he  would  wish 
to  be  greater  than  God  Himself  and  to  possess 
heaven  itself.  This  passion  lies  most  deeply  hid- 
den in  hereditary  evil,  and  thus  in  man's  life  and 


224  THE   'DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

not  instantly  take  away  this  evil,  for  if  it  were  in- 
stantly taken  away  man  would  cease  to  live ;  but 
providence  takes  it  away  so  quietly  and  gradually 
that  man  knows  nothing  about  it.  This  is  done 
by  permitting  man  to  acl:  in  accordance  with  the 
thought  that  his  reason  adopts ;  and  then  by  vari- 
ous means,  rational  and  civil  and  moral,  the  Divine 
providence  leads  him ;  and  he  is  thus  led  as  far 
as  he  can  be  led  in  freedom.  Nor  can  evil  be 
taken  away  from  any  one  until  it  becomes  evident 
and  is  seen  and  acknowledged  ;  it  is  like  a  wound 
that  does  not  heal  until  it  is  opened. 

If,  then,  man  were  to  know  and  see  that  the 
Lord  so  works  by  means  of  His  Divine  providence 
against  man's  life's  love,  from  which  he  has  his  chief 
enjoyment,  he  could  not  but  go  in  the  opposite 
direction,  become  enraged,  strive  against  it,  say 
hard  words,  and  finally  from  his  evil  set  aside  the 
operation  of  the  Divine  providence  by  denying  it 
and  thus  denying  God ;  especially  if  he  saw  in  it 
an  obstacle  to  his  success,  and  saw  himself  fallen 
from  honor  and  stripped  of  wealth. 

But  it  must  be  known  that  the  Lord  never  leads 
man  away  from  seeking  honors  or  from  acquiring 
wealth,  but  only  leads  him  away  from  a  desire  to  seek 
honors  for  the  sake  of  mere  eminence,  that  is,  for  the 
sake  of  himself;  also  from  acquiring  wealth  for  the 
sake  of  mere  opulence,  that  is,  for  the  sake  of  riches. 
And  when  the  Lord  leads  man  away  from  these 
He  leads  him  into  a  love  of  uses,  that  he  may  esteem 
eminence  not  for  his  own  sake  but  for  the  sake  of 


CHAPTER  IX.,  N.  185  225 

uses,  thus  that  it  may  belong  to  uses,  and  to  him- 
self therefrom,  and  not  to  himself  and  to  uses  there- 
from. The  same  is  true  of  opulence.  That  the 
Lord  constantly  humbles  the  proud  and  exalts  the 
humble  He  teaches  in  many  places  in  the  Word  ; 
and  what  He  there  teaches  pertains  also  to  His  Di- 
vine providence. 

184*  The  same  is  true  of  other  evils  that  man 
is  in  by  inheritance,  such  as  adulteries,  frauds,  re- 
venge, blasphemy,  and  others  like  these.  None  of 
these  could  be  put  away  unless  a  liberty  to  think 
and  will  them  were  left  to  man  which  would  enable 
him  to  put  them  away  as  if  of  himself;  and  yet  he 
can  do  this  only  by  acknowledging  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence and  praying  that  the  work  may  be.  done  by 
it.  Except  for  that  liberty,  combined  with  the  Di- 
vine providence,  such  evils  would  be  like  poison 
kept  in  and  not  expelled,  which  would  soon  spread 
and  carry  death  to  the  whole  system  ;  or  they  would 
be  like  a  disease  of  the  heart  itself,  from  which  the 
whole  body  soon  dies. 

185.  The  truth  of  this  cannot  be  better  learned 
than 'from  the  states  of  men  after  death  in  the  spirit- 
ual world.  Most  of  those  there  who  have  become 
great  and  rich  in  the  natural  world,  and  in  their 
honors  and  riches  have  regarded  themselves  only, 
at  first  talk  about  God  and  the  Divine  providence  as 
if  they  had  acknowledged  them  in  heart.  But  be- 
cause they  then  clearly  see  the  Divine  providence, 
and  from  it  their  final  lot,  which  is  that  they  are 
to  come  into  hell,  they  join  themselves  with  the 


226  THE  ^DI^INE  TROYIDENCE 

devils  there,  and  then  not  only  deny  but  also  blas- 
pheme God  ;  and  at  last  they  fall  into  such  mad- 
ness as  to  acknowledge  the  more  powerful  of  the 
devils  as  their  gods,  and  desire  nothing  more  ar- 
dently than  to  become  gods  themselves. 

186.  Man  would  run  counter  to  God,  and  also 
deny  Him,  if  he  clearly  saw  the  workings  of  His 
Divine   providence,  because  man   is  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  self-love,  and  that  enjoyment  constitutes  his 
very  life ;    therefore  when  he  is   kept  in    his  life's 
enjoyment  he  is  in  freedom ;    for  freedom  and  that 
enjoyment  make  one.     If,  therefore,  he  had  a  per- 
ception of  being  constantly  led  away  from  his  en- 
joyment he  would  be  enraged  as  against  one  who 
wished  to  destroy  his  life,  and  would  regard  him  as 
an   enemy.     To   prevent   this  the   Lord   does   not 
manifestly  appear  in  His  Divine  providence,  but  by 
it  He  leads  men  as  silently  as  a  hidden  current  or 
favoring  tide   bears  a  vessel ;   and  in   consequence 
man  does  not  know  but  that  he  is  constantly  in  his 
own  (proprium),  for  man's  freedom  and  his  own  make 
one.     From  this  it  is  clear  that  freedom  appropriates 
to  man  what  the  Divine  providence  introduces,  but 
that  this  would  not  take  place  if  the  Divine  provid- 
ence made  itself  manifest.    To  be  appropriated  is  to 
come  to  be  of  the  life. 

187.  (iv.)   It  is  granted  man  to  see  the  Divine 
providence  in  the  back  and  not  in  the  face ;  and  to 
see  it  in  a  spiritual  state  and  not  in  his  natural 
state. — To  see  the  Divine  providence  in  the  back 


CHAPTER   IX.,  N.   l8j  227 

and  not  in  the  face  is  to  see  it  after  it  occurs  and 
not  before  ;  and  to  see  it  from  a  spiritual  and  not 
from  a  natural  state  is  to  see  it  from  heaven  and 
not  from  the  world.  All  who  receive  influx  from 
heaven  and  acknowledge  the  Divine  providence, 
and  especially  those  who  by  reformation  have  be- 
come spiritual,  when  they  see  events  in  some  won- 
derful series  see  as  it  were  the  Divine  providence 
by  an  interior  acknowledgment,  and  confess  it. 
Such  have  no  wish  to  see  it  in  the  face,  that  is,  be 
fore  it  occurs,  fearing  that  their  will  might  intrude 
itself  into  some  thing  of  its  order  and  tenor. 

It  is  otherwise  with  those  who  accept  no  influx 
from  heaven  but  only  from  the  world,  especially  with 
those  who  have  become  natural  from  the  confirm- 
ation of  appearances  in  themselves.  These  see  no- 
thing of  the  Divine  providence  in  the  back,  or  after 
it  occurs  ;  but  they  wish  to  see  it  in  the  face,  or 
before  it  occurs  ;  and  as  the  Divine  providence 
works  by  means,  and  the  means  are  furnished 
through  man  or  the  world,  whether  they  see  it  in 
the  face  or  the  back  they  attribute  it  either  to  man 
or  to  nature,  and  thus  confirm  themselves  in  a  de- 
nial of  it.  This  they  do  because  their  understand- 
ing is  closed  from  above  and  is  open  only  from 
below,  that  is,  closed  towards  heaven  and  open  to- 
wards the  world  ;  and  it  is  not  granted  to  see  the 
Divine  providence  from  the  world,  but  only  from 
heaven.  I  have  sometimes  asked  myself  whether 
such  would  acknowledge  the  Divine  providence  if 
their  understanding  were  opened  from  above,  and 


228  THE  'DIVINE  PROVIDENCE 

they  could  see  as  in  clear  day  that  nature  in  itself 
is  dead,  and  that  human  intelligence  in  itself  is  no- 
thing, while  it  is  from  influx  that  these  both  have 
an  appearance  of  being ;  and  I  have  perceived  that 
such  as  have  confirmed  themselves  in  favor  of  na- 
ture and  of  human  prudence  would  not  acknow- 
ledge this,  for  the  reason  that  the  natural  light 
flowing  in  from  below  would  immediately  extin- 
guish the  spiritual  light  flowing  in  from  above. 

189.  The  man  who  has  become  spiritual  by 
the  acknowledgment  of  God,  and  wise  by  a  rejec- 
tion of  what  is  his  own  (proprium),  sees  the  Divine 
providence  in  the  whole  world,  and  in  all  and  each 
of  the  things  in  it.  When  he  looks  at  natural 
things  he  sees  it ;  when  he  looks  at  civil  matters 
he  sees  it;  when  he  looks  at  spiritual  things  he 
sees  it ;  he  sees  it  alike  in  the  simultaneous  and 
the  successive  relations  of  things,  in  ends,  in  causes, 
in  effedls,  in  uses,  in  forms,-  in  things  great  and 
small.  Especially  does  he  see  it  in  the  salvation 
of  men,  as  that  Jehovah  gave  the  Word,  taught 
men  by  it  respecting  God,  heaven  and  hell,  and 
eternal  life,  and  came  Himself  into  the  world  to 
redeem  and  save  men.  These  things  and  many 
others,  and  the  Divine  providence  in  them,  man  sees 
from  natural  light  in  spiritual  light.  But  the  merely 
natural  man  sees  none  of  these  things. 

He  is  like  one  who  sees  a  magnificent  temple, 
and  hears  a  preacher  enlightened  in  Divine  things, 
and  at  home  declares  that  he  has  seen  nothing  but 
a  house  of  stone,  and  has  heard  nothing  but  an 


CHAPTER  IX.,  N.  IpO  229 

articulate  sound.  Or  he  is  like  a  near-sighted  per- 
son who  goes  into  a  garden  remarkable  for  fruits 
of  every  kind,  and  returning  home  says  that  he  has 
seen  only  trees  and  woods.  When  such  persons 
after  death  have  become  spirits,  and  when  they  are 
raised  up  into  the  angelic  heaven,  where  all  things 
are  in  forms  representative  of  love  and  wisdom, 
they  see  nothing,  not  even  that  they  exist ;  as  I 
have  seen  tried  with  many  who  have  denied  the 
Lord's  Divine  providence. 

190.  There  are  many  constant  things  created 
in  order  that  things  not  constant  may  have  exist- 
ence. The  constants  are  the  stated  changes  in  the 
rising  and  setting  of  the  sun  and  moon  and  of  the 
stars ;  their  obscuration  by  interpositions  called 
eclipses  ;  the  heat  and  light  from  them  ;  the  seasons 
of  the  year  called  spring,  summer,  autumn,  and 
winter  ;  the  times  of  the  day  called  morning,  noon, 
evening,  and  night ;  also  the  atmospheres,  waters, 
and  lands,  viewed  in  themselves ;  the  vegetative 
power  in  the  vegetable  kingdom ;  both  the  vege- 
tative and  the  prolific  in  the  animal  kingdom  ;  also 
the  things  that  are  constantly  <effecled  by  these 
when  brought  into  act  according  to  the  laws  of  or- 
der. These  and  many  other  things  exist  by  cre- 
ation ;  and  are  provided  in  order  that  infinitely 
changing  things  may  have  existence  ;  for  the  chang- 
ing can  have  existence  only  in  the  constant,  the 
fixed,  and  the  sure. 

But  let  examples  illustrate.  Changes  of  vege- 
tation would  not  be  possible  unless  the  rising  and 


230  THE  DIVINE  VROWDENCE 

setting  of  the  sun,  and  the  resultant  heat  and  light 
were  constant.  Harmonies  of  sound  are  of  infin- 
ite variety,  but  they  would  be  impossible  unless  the 
atmospheres  were  constant  in  their  laws  and  the  ears 
in  their  form.  Varieties  in  sight,  which  are  also  in- 
finite, would  be  impossible  unless  the  ether  in  its 
laws  and  the  eye  in  its  form  were  constant.  The 
same  is  true  of  color,  unless  the  light  were  con- 
stant. It  is  the  same  with  thoughts,  words,  and  ac- 
tions, which  are  also  of  infinite  variety  ;  these  wrould 
be  impossible  unless  the  organic  forms  of  the  body 
were  constant.  Must  not  a  house  be  constant 
that  various  things  may  be  done  in  it  by  man ;  or 
a  temple,  that  in  it  there  may  be  the  changing 
services,  sermons,  instruction,  and  pious  meditation  ? 
So  in  other  things. 

As  to  the  changes  themselves  that  go  on  in 
the  constant,  the  fixed,  and  the  sure,  they  progress 
to  infinity  and  have  no  end ;  and  yet  there  is  never 
one  exactly  the  same  as  another  among  all  the 
things  of  the  universe  or  in  any  one  of  them,  nor 
can  there  be  in  those  that  are  to  follow  to  eternity. 
Who  so  directs  tjiese  changes  going  on  to  infinity 
and  eternity  that  they  may  be  in  order  but  He 
who  created  the  constant  things  to  an  end  that 
the  changes  might  have  existence  in  them?  And 
who  can  direct  the  infinite  changes  of  life  in  men 
but  He  who  is  Life  itself,  that  is,  Love  itself  and 
Wisdom  itself?  Without  His  Divine  providence, 
which  is  like  a  continual  creation,  could  men's  in- 
finite affections  and  consequent  thoughts,  and  thus 


CHAPTER  IX.,  N.  /pO  231 

the  men  themselves,  be  so  arranged  as  to  make 
a  one, — evil  affections  and  thoughts  therefrom  one 
devil  which  is  hell,  and  good  affections  and  thoughts 
therefrom  one  Lord  in  heaven?  That  the  entire 
angelic  heaven  is  in  the  Lord's  sight  as  one  man, 
Hi»  image  and  likeness,  and  that  all  hell  is  opposed 
to  it  as  a  monstrous  man,  has  been  frequently  stated 
and  shown  before.  These  things  have  now  been 
said  because  some  natural  men,  even  from  the  con- 
stant and  fixed  things  that  are  necessary  to  the 
end  that  changeable  things  may  have  existence  in 
them,  find  arguments  for  their  madness  in  favor  of 
nature  and  of  one's  own  prudence. 


X. 


MAN'S  OWN  PRUDENCE  IS  NOTHING  ;  IT  MERELY  APPEARS 
TO  BE  SOMETHING,  AND  SHOULD  SO  APPEAR  ;  BUT  THE 
DIVINE  PROVIDENCE,  BECAUSE  OF  ITS  MINUTE  PAR- 
TICULARS, IS  UNIVERSAL. 


THAT  man's  own  prudence  is  nothing  is  wholly 
contrary  to  appearance,  and  therefore  con- 
trary to  the  belief  of  many  ;  and  for  this  rea- 
son, whoever  from  the  appearance  holds  the  belief 
that  human  prudence  does  all  things  can  be  con- 
vinced of  the   truth  only  by  reasons  drawn  from 
deeper  investigation,   and  these  must  be  gathered 
from  the  realm  of  causes.      The  appearance  is  an 
effect,  and  the  causes  disclose  its  source. 

In  this  introduction  something  shall  be  said 
about  the  general  belief  on  this  subject.  In  opposi- 
tion to  the  appearance  is  the  teaching  of  the  church, 
that  love  and  faith  are  from  God  and  not  from  man, 
likewise  wisdom  and  intelligence,  and  therefore  all 
prudence,  and  in  general  all  good  and  truth.  When 
this  teaching  is  accepted  it  must  be  conceded  also 
that  man's  own  prudence  is  nothing,  but  only  ap- 
pears to  be  something.  Prudence  has  no  other 
source  than  intelligence  and  wisdom,  and  these  two 
have  no  other  source  than  the  understanding  and 
the  thought  therefrom  about  truth  and  good.  Those 


CHAPTER  X.,  N.   192  233 

who  acknowledge  the  Divine  providence  accept 
and  believe  this  that  has  been  said,  but  not  those 
who  acknowledge  human  prudence  alone. 

Now  the  truth  must  be  either  as  the  church 
teaches,  that  all  wisdom  and  prudence  are  from 
God,  or  as  the  world  teaches,  that  all  wisdom  and 
prudence  are  from  man.  Can  these  be  reconciled 
in  any  other  way  than  by  admitting  that  what  the 
church  teaches  is  the  truth,  and  that  what  the 
world  teaches  is  the  appearance  ?  For  the  church 
draws  its  proof  from  the  Word,  but  the  world  from 
man's  own  (proprium)  ;  and  the  Word  is  from  God, 
while  man's  own  is  from  man.  It  is  because  prud- 
ence is  from  God  and  not  from  man  that  the  Christ- 
ian in  his  devotions  prays  that  God  will  lead  his 
thoughts,  counsels,  and  deeds  ;  adding  also,  because 
from  himself  he  cannot  do  this.  When,  moreover, 
he  sees  any  one  doing  good  he  says  that  he  has 
been  led  to  it  by  God  ;  and  many  other  like  things. 
How  can  any  one  so  speak  unless  at  the  time  he  in- 
teriorly believes  it?  And  believing  this  interiorly 
is  from  heaven.  But  when  one  thinks  within  him- 
self and  collects  arguments  in  favor  of  human  prud- 
ence he  can  accept  the  opposite  belief,  which  is 
from  the  world.  Nevertheless,  the  internal  faith 
prevails  in  those  who  acknowledge  God  in  heart  ; 
while  the  external  faith  prevails  in  those  who  do 
not  acknowledge  God  in  heart,  whatever  their  pro- 
fessions may  be. 

192.  It  has  been  said  that  one  who  believes 
from  the  appearance  that  human  prudence  does 


234  THE  THVINE 

all  things  can  be  convinced  of  the  truth  only  by 
reasons  drawn  from  deeper  investigation,  which  are 
to  be  gathered  from  the  realm  of  causes.  In  order, 
therefore,  that  reasons  gathered  therefrom  may  be 
brought  clearly  before  the  understanding  they  must 
be  presented  in  their  order,  which  will  be  as  follows  : 

(i.)    All  of  mans  thoughts  are  from  the  affec- 
tions of  his  life's  love ;  and  apart  from 
these  there  are  and  can  be  no  thoughts 
whatever. 
The  affections  of  a  mans  life's  love  are 

known  to  the  Lord  alone. 
By  means  of  His  Divine  providence  the 
Lord  leads  the  affections  of  a  man  s  life's 
love,  and  at  the  same  time  leads  his 
thoughts,  from  which  human  prudence 
is  derived. 

By  means  of  His  Divine  providence  the 
Lord  combines  the  affections  of  the  whole 
human  race  into  one  form,  which  is  the 
human  form. 

(v.)  In  consequence  of  this,  heaven  and  hell, 
which  are  from  the  human  race,  are  in 
such  a  form. 

(vi.)  Those  that  have  acknowledged  nature  alone 
and  hitman  prudence  alone  constitute 
hell ;  while  those  that  have  acknowledged 
God  and  His  Divine  providence  consti- 
tute heaven. 

(vii.)  Nom  of  these  things  could  be  done  except 
from  the  appearance  to  man  that  he 
thinks  from  himself  and  directs  all 
things  from  himself. 

193.    (i.)  All  of  man's   thoughts  are  from  the 
affecJions  of  his  life's  love ;  and  apart  from  these 


CHAPTER  X.,  N.   193  235 

there  are  and  can  be  no  thoughts  whatever.  — What 
in  their  essence  the  life' s  love  and  the  affections  and 
their  thoughts  are,  and  what  the  sensations  and 
actions  from  these  which  exist  in  the  body  are, 
has  been  shown  above  in  this  work,  also  in  the 
work  entitled  Angelic  Wisdom  concerning  the  Di- 
vine Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom,  particularly  in 
Parts  One  and  Five.  Since,  then,  the  causes  from 
which  human  prudence  flows  forth  as  an  effect  are 
from  these,  it  is  necessary  to  set  forth  here  some- 
thing in  respect  to  these  ;  for  things  written  else- 
where cannot  be  brought  into  close  connection 
with  things  written  later  unless  they  are  both  re- 
peated and  viewed  together. 

Earlier  in  the  present  work,  and  in  the  one  just 
mentioned  on  The  Divine  Love  and  the  Divine 
Wisdom,  the  following  principles  are  set  forth  :  In 
the  Lord  there  are  Divine  love  and  Divine  wisdom  ; 
these  two  are  Life  itself ;  from  these  two  man  has 
will  and  understanding,  will  from  the  Divine  love 
and  understanding  from  the  Divine  wisdom  ;  and 
to  these  two  the  heart  and  lungs  in  the  body  cor- 
respond. From  this  it  is  clear  that  as  the  motion 
of  the  heart  together  with  the  respiration  of  the 
lungs  governs  the  whole  man  in  respect  to  his  body, 
so  the  will  together  with  the  understanding  gov- 
erns the  whole  man  in  respect  to  his  mind.  Thus 
in  every  man  there  are  two  principles  of  life,  the 
one  natural  and  the  other  spiritual,  the  natural  prin- 
ciple of  life  being  the  heart's  pulsation,  and  the 
spiritual  principle  of  life  the  mind's  volition  ;  each 


236  THE   THYME  TROWDENCE 

of  these  joins  to  itself  its  mate,  with  which  it  co- 
habits, and  with  which  it  performs  the  functions  of 
life,  the  heart  joining  with  itself  the  lungs,  and  the 
will  joining  with  itself  the  understanding. 

Since,  then,  the  soul  of  the  will  is  love  and  the 
soul  of  the  understanding  is  wisdom,  both  of  them 
from  the  Lord,  it  follows  that  love  is  every  one's 
life,  and  the  love  is  such  life  as  is  conjoined  with 
wisdom  ;  or,  what  is  the  same,  that  the  will  is  every 
one's  life,  and  the  will  is  such  life  as  is  conjoined 
with  the  understanding.  But  more  on  this  subject 
may  be  seen  above  in  this  work,  also  in  the  Angelic 
Wisdom  concerning  the  Divine  Love  and  the  Di- 
vine Wisdom,  especially  in  Parts  One  and  Five. 

194.  In  these  works  it  has  also  been  shown 
that  the  life's  love  produces  from  itself  subordinate 
loves,  which  are  called  affections,  and  that  these 
are  exterior  and  interior  ;  also  that  these  when  taken 
together  form  as  it  were  one  sovereignty  or  king- 
dom, in  which  the  life's  love  is  lord  or  king.  It 
has  also  been  shown  that"  these  subordinate  loves 
or  affections  join  to  themselves  mates,  each  its  own, 
the  interior  affections,  mates  called  perceptions,  and 
the  exterior  affections,  mates  called  thoughts ;  and 
that  each  cohabits  with  its  own  mate  and  discharges 
the  offices  of  its  life ;  also  that  the  conjunction  of 
each  is  like  that  of  life's  being  (esse)  with  life's  going 
forth  (existere),  which  is  such  that  one  is  nothing 
except  with  the  other ;  for  what  is  life's  being  un- 
less it  goes  forth,  and  what  is  life's  going  forth 
except  from  life's  being? 


CHAPTER   X.,  N.   195  237 

Moreover,  this  conjunction  in  the  life  is  like  that 
between  tone  and  harmony,  or  between  tone  and 
speech,  and  in  general  like  that  between  the  heart's 
pulsation  and  the  lungs'  respiration,  which  conjunc- 
tion is  such  that  one  is  nothing  without  the  other, 
and  each  becomes  something  by  conjunction  with 
the  other.  Either  there  must  be  conjunctions  in 
them,  or  conjunctions  must  be  effected  by  them. 
Take  tone  for  example :  He  is  greatly  mistaken 
who  thinks  that  tone  is  anything  unless  there  is  in 
it  that  which  makes  it  distinctive.  Moreover,  the 
tone  corresponds  with  the  affection  in  man  ;  and 
because  there  is  always  something  that  is  distinctive 
in  it  the  affection  of  one's  love  can  be  recognized 
from  his  tone  when  speaking ;  and  from  the  vari- 
ation of  it,  which  is  speech,  his  thought  can  be  re- 
cognized. For  this  reason  the  wiser  angels  merely 
from  the  tone  of  the  voice  of  one  speaking  have  a 
perception  of  his  life's  loves,  together  with  certain 
affections  derived  from  them.  This  has  been  said 
to  make  known  that  no  affection  is  possible  apart 
from  its  thought,  nor  any  thought  apart  from  its 
affection. 

But  more  on  this  subject  may  be  seen  in  the 
present  work ;  also  in  Angelic  Wisdom  concerning 
the  Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom. 

IQ5»  Now  as  the  life's  love  has  its  delight,  and 
the  wisdom  thereof  has  its  enjoyment,  likewise  every 
affection,  (which  in  its  essence  is  a  subordinate  love 
derived  from  the  life's  love,  as  a  stream  from  its 
fountain,  as  a  branch  from  its  tree,  or  as  an  artery 


238  THE  'DIVINE  TROWDENCE 

from  its  heart,)  so  every  particular  affeclion  has 
its  delight,  and  every  particular  perception  and 
thought  therefrom  has  its  enjoyment.  And  from 
this  it  follows  that  the  varieties  of  delight  and  en- 
joyment constitute  man's  life.  What  is  life  with- 
out delight  and  enjoyment?  It  is  not  anything  ani- 
mate, but  it  is  inanimate.  Lessen  these  and  you 
will  grow  cold  or  torpid  ;  take  them  away  and  you 
will  cease  to  breathe  and  will  die. 

Vital  heat  is  from  the  delights  of  the  affections, 
and  from  the  enjoyment  of  the  perceptions  and 
thoughts.  And  since  every  affeclion  has  its  own 
delight,  and  the  thought  therefrom  its  own  enjoy- 
ment, the  source  of  good  and  truth  can  be  seen,  also 
what  good  and  'truth  are  in  their  essence.  Every 
one's  good  is  that  which  is  delightful  to  his  affec- 
ion ;  and  truth  is  that  which  is  enjoyable  therefrom 
to  his  thought.  For  every  one  calls  that  good 
which,  from  the  love  of  his  will,  he  feels  to  be  de- 
lightful ;  and  he  calls  that  truth  which,  from  the 
wisdom  of  his  understanding,  he  perceives  to  be 
enjoyable  therefrom.  Both  of  these  flow  from  the 
life's  love  as  water  flows  from  a  fountain,  or  as  blood 
from  the  heart.  Taken  together  they  are  like  a  wave 
or  a  breeze  in  'which  is  the  whole  human  mind. 

These  two,  delight  and  enjoyment,  are  spiritual 
in  the  mind,  but  natural  in  the  body  ;  and  together 
they  constitute  man's  life.  From  all  this  it  is  clear 
what  it  is  in  man  that  is  called  good,  and  what  it  is 
that  is  called  truth  ;  also  what  it  is  in  man  that  is 
called  evil,  and  what  it  is  that  is  called  falsity ;  for 


CHAPTER  X.,  N.  197  239 

that  is  evil  to  him  that  destroys  the  delight  of  his 
affection,  and  that  is  falsity  that  destroys  the  en- 
joyment of  his  thought  therefrom.  It  is  also  clear, 
that  evil  from  its  delight  and  falsity  from  its  enjoy- 
ment may  be  called  and  may  be  believed  to  be  good 
and  truth.  In  fact,  goods  and  truths  are  changes 
and  variations  of  state  in  the  forms  of  the  mind  ;  but 
these  are  perceived  and  have  their  life  solely  by 
means  of  their  delights  and  enjoyments.  These 
things  have  been  presented  to  make  known  what 
affection  and  thought  are  in  their  life. 

196.  Since,  then,  it  is  man's  mind  and  not 
his  body  that  thinks  (and  it  thinks  from  the  delight 
of  its  affection),  and  since  man's  mind  is  his  spirit, 
which  lives  after  death,  it  follows  that  man's  spirit 
is  nothing  but  affection  and  the  thought  therefrom. 
That  no  thought  is  possible  apart  from  affection  is 
clearly  evident  from  the  state  of  spirits  and  angels  in 
the  spiritual  world,  in  that  all  there  think  from  the 
affections  of  their  life's  love,  and  the  delight  of  these 
affections  encompasses  every  one  as  his  atmosphere  ; 
and  all  are  joined  together  in  accord  with  these 
spheres  that  exhale  from  their  affections  through 
their  thoughts.  Moreover,  what  each  one  is  is  re- 
cognized from  the  sphere  of  his  life.  From  all  this 
it  may  be  seen  that  every  thought  is  from  an  affec- 
tion, and  is  a  form  of  its  affection.  It  is  the  same 
with  the  will  and  the  understanding  ;  also  with  good 
and  truth  ;  also  with  charity  and  faith. 

The  affeElions  of  a  man' s  life1  s  love 


240  THE    'DIVINE  <PROWDENCE 

are  known  to  the  Lord  alone. — Man  knows  his 
thoughts  and  consequent  intentions,  because  he  sees 
.them  in  himself;  and  as  all  prudence  is  from  these, 
he  also  sees  that  in  himself.  If,  then,  his  life's  love 
is  love  of  self,  he  comes  into  the  pride  of  his  own 
intelligence  and  ascribes  prudence  to  himself,  and 
collects  arguments  in  its  favor,  and  thus  recedes 
from  the  acknowledgment  of  the  Divine  providence. 
It  is  the  same  when  his  life's  love  is  love  of  the 
world ;  although  in  this  case  he  does  not  recede 
in  the  same  degree.  This  shows  that  these  two 
loves  ascribe  every  thing  to  man  and  his  prudence, 
and,  when  interiorly  examined,  nothing  to  God  and 
His  providence.  Consequently,  when  such  men 
happen  to  hear  that  the  truth  is  that  human  prud- 
ence is  nothing,  but  that  it  is  the  Divine  providence 
alone  that  governs  all  things,  if  they  are  complete 
atheists  they  laugh  at  it ;  but  if  they  retain  in  their 
memory  something  of  religion,  and  it  is  said  to 
them  that  all  wisdom  is  from  God,  at  the  first 
hearing  they  assent,  although  inwardly  in  their 
spirit  they  deny  it.  Such,  especially,  are  those 
priests  who  love  themselves  more  than  God,  and 
the  world  more  than  heaven ;  or  what  is  the  same, 
who  worship  God  for  the  sake  of  honor  and  gain, 
and  yet  have  preached  that  charity  and  faith,  every 
good  and  truth,  also  all  wisdom  and  even  prudence, 
are  from  God,  and  nothing  from  man. 

In  the  spiritual  world  I  once  heard  two  priests 
disputing  with  a  certain  royal  ambassador  about 
human  prudence,  whether  it  is  from  God  or  from 


CHAPTER  X.,  N.  198  241 

man.  The  dispute  grew  warm.  In  heart  the  three 
believed  alike,  namely,  that  human  prudence  does 
all  things,  and  the  Divine  providence  nothing ;  but 
the  priests,  who  were  then  in  theological  zeal,  con- 
tended that  nothing  of  wisdom  or  prudence  is  from 
man ;  and  when  the  ambassador  retorted  that  then 
there  is  nothing  of  thought  from  man,  they  assented 
to  this.  And  the  angels  perceiving  that  the  three 
believed  alike,  the  ambassador  was  told  to  put  on 
priestly  robes  and  to  believe  himself  to  be  a  priest, 
and  then  to  speak.  He  put  them  on  and  believed, 
and  then  loudly  declared  that  there  could  not  pos- 
sibly be  anything  of  wisdom  or  prudence  in  man 
except  from  God ;  and  with  his  accustomed  elo- 
quence, full  of  rational  arguments,  he  defended  this. 
Afterwards  the  two  priests  were  told  to  lay  aside 
their  vestments  and  to  put  on  the  robes  of  officers 
of  state,  and  to  believe  themselves  to  be  such. 
This  they  did,  and  at  once  thought  from  their  in- 
terior self,  and  spoke  from  arguments  they  had 
inwardly  cherished  before,  in  favor  of  human  prud- 
ence and  against  Divine  providence.  After  this  the 
three,  since  they  held  the  same  belief,  became  cor- 
dial friends,  and  entered  together  upon  the  way  of 
one's  own  prudence,  which  leads  to  hell. 

198.  It  has  been  shown  above  that  no  thought 
is  possible  to  man  except  from  some  affection  of 
his  life's  love ;  and  that  thought  is  nothing  but  the 
form  of  affection.  Since,  then,  man  sees  his  thought, 
but  cannot  see  his  affeclion,  for  that  he  feels,  it  fol- 
lows that  it  is  from  sight,  which  is  in  the  appear- 


242  THE  'DIWNE  VROWDENCE 

ance,  and  not  from  affection,  which  comes  into  feel- 
ing and  not  into  sight,  that  man  concludes  that  his 
own  prudence  does  all  things.  For  affection  is  evi- 
dent only  through  a  certain  delight  in  thought  and 
satisfaction  in  reasoning  about  it ;  and  this  satisfac- 
tion and  delight  then  make  one  with  the  thought 
in  those  who  from  self-love  or  love  of  the  world 
believe  in  their  own  prudence ;  and  thought  floats 
on  in  its  delight  like  a  ship  in  the  current  of  a 
stream,  to  which  the  master  pays  no  attention,  re- 
garding only  the  sail  he  spreads. 

199.  It  is  true  that  a  man  is  able  to  reflect 
upon  a  delight  of  his  external  affeclion  while  that 
delight  is  acting  as  one  with  the  delight  of  some 
bodily  sensation.  Nevertheless,  he  does  not  reflect 
upon  the  fact  that  this  delight  is  from  a  delight  of 
His  affeclion  in  his  thought.  For  example :  When 
a  fornicator  sees  a  lewd  woman  his  eye  glows  with 
the  fire  of  lasciviousness,  and  from  that  fire  he  feels 
a  delight  in  the  body.  And  yet  in  his  thought  he 
feels  no  delight  of  his  affeclion  or  lust  except  a 
certain  longing  connected  with  the  body.  So  a 
robber  in  a  forest  when  he  sees  travellers  ;  or  a 
pirate  on  the  sea  when  he  sees  vessels ;  and  so  on. 
Evidently  it  is  these  delights  that  rule  the  man's 
thoughts,  and  the  thoughts  are  nothing  apart  from 
them  ;  yet  they  seem  to  him  to  be  nothing  but 
thoughts ;  when  in  fact,  thoughts  are  nothing  but 
affections  so  composed  into  forms  by  his  life's  love 
as  to  be  presented  in  light;  for  all  affection  is  in 
heat,  and  thought  is  in  light. 


CHAPTER   X.,  N.  7pp  243 

Such  are  the  external  affections  of  thought, 
which  manifest  themselves  in  bodily  sensation,  and 
rarely  in  the  thought  of  the  mind.  But  the  inter- 
nal affections  of  thought,  from  which  the  external 
affections  have  their  existence,  never  in  any  way 
manifest  themselves  before  man.  Of  these  man 
knows  no  more  than  one  sleeping  in  a  carriage 
knows  of  the  road,  or  than  one  feels  the  revolu- 
tion of  the  earth.  Considering,  then,  that  man 
knows  nothing  of  the  things  that  are  going  on  in 
the  interiors  of  his  mind,  which  are  too  limitless  to 
be  numbered,  and  yet  those  few  externals  that  do 
come  within  the  view  of  his  thought  are  produced 
from  the  interiors,  and  the  interiors  are  governed 
by  the  Lord  alone  by  His  Divine  providence,  while 
only  in  those  few  externals  does  man  co-operate 
with  the  Lord,  how  can  any  one  say  that  his  own 
prudence  does  all  things?  If  you  were  to  see  but 
one  idea  of  thought  laid  open  you  would  see  won- 
derful things,  more  in  number  than  tongue  can  ex- 
press. 

That  in  the  interiors  of  man's  mind  there  are 
things  too  limitless  to  be  numbered  is  clear  from 
the  infinite  things  in  the  body,  from  which  nothing 
comes  to  sight  or  feeling  except  action  only  in  much 
simplicity ;  and  yet  in  this  thousands  of  motor  or 
muscular  fibres  concur,  thousands  of  nerve  fibres, 
thousands  of  blood-vessels,  thousands  of  lung  cells; 
all  of  which  must  co-operate  in  every  action,  thous- 
ands of  cells  in  the  brains  and  spinal  cord,  and 
many  more  yet  in  the  spiritual  man,  which  is  the 


244  THE  VIYINE  TROflDENCE 

human  mind,  in  which  all  things  are  forms  of  affec- 
tions and-  of  their  perceptions  and  thoughts.  Does 
not  the  soul,  which  direcls  the  interiors,  direcl:  also 
the  aclions  from  them?  Man's  soul  is  nothing  else 
than  the  love  of  his  will  and  the  love  therefrom  of 
his  understanding.  The  quality  of  that  love  is  the 
quality  of  the  whole  man ;  and  that  is  determined 
by  the  way  in  which  the  externals  are  disposed,  in 
which  man  and  the  Lord  co-operate.  Consequently, 
if  man  attributes  all  things  to  himself  and  to  nature, 
the  love  of  self  becomes  the  soul ;  but  if  he  attrib- 
utes all  things  to  the  Lord,  love  to  the  Ldrd  be- 
comes the  soul ;  and  this  love  is  heavenly,  while 
the  other  is  infernal. 

200.  Since,  then,  the  delights  of  man's  affec- 
tions, from  inmosts  through  interiors  to  exteriors, 
and  finally  to  the  outermosts  which  are  in^the  body, 
bear  man  along  as  a  current  or  breeze  bears  a  ship, 
and  nothing  of  these  is  evident  to  man  except  what 
goes  on  in  the  outermosts  of  the  mind  and  of  the 
body,  how  can  man  claim  as  his  own  what  is  Divine 
merely  because  these  few  outermosts  appear  to  him 
to  be  his?  Still  less  ought  he  to  claim  what  is  Di- 
vine as  his  own,  when  he  knows  from  the  Word 
that  a  man  can  of  himself  "receive  nothing  except 
it  have  been  given  him  from  heaven  ;"  and  from 
Reason,  that  this  appearance  has  been  granted  him 
that  he  may  live  as  a  man,  may  see  what  is  good 
and  what  is  evil,  may  choose  one  or  the  other,  may 
appropriate  to  himself  that  which  he  chooses,  and 
may  thus  be  conjoined  reciprocally  with  the  Lord, 


CHAPTER  X.,  N.  2O I  245 

be  reformed,  regenerated,  saved,  and  may  live  for 
ever.  That  this  appearance  has  been  granted  to 
man  in  order  that  he  may  acl  from  freedom  in  ac- 
cordance with  reason,  thus  as  if  from  himself,  and 
may  not  let  his  hands  hang  down  and  wait  for  in- 
flux, has  been  stated  and  shown  above.  From  this 
follows,  as  already  proved,  the  next  proposition 
to  be  demonstrated  :  (iii.)  By  means  of  His  Di- 
vine providence  the  Lord  leads  the  affections  of  a 
man's  life's  love,  and  at  the  same  time  leads  his 
thoughts,  from  which  human  prudence  is  derived. 

2OI.  (iv.)  By  means  of  His  Divine  provid- 
ence the  Lord  combines  the  affections  [of  the  whole 
human  race}  into  one  form,  which  is  the  human 
form. — That  this  is  the  universal  [end]  of  the  Di- 
vine providence  will  be  seen  in  the  next  section. 
Those  who  ascribe  all  things  to  nature  also  ascribe 
all  things  to  human  prudence  ;  for  those  who  as- 
cribe all  things  to  nature  deny  God  in  heart ;  and 
those  who  ascribe  all  things  to  human  prudence 
deny  in  heart  the  Divine  providence ;  the  two  are 
inseparable.  And  yet  both,  for  the  sake  of  their 
good  name  and  from  fear  of  losing  it,  admit  in  words 
that  the  Divine  providence  is  universal,  and  that  its 
particulars  rest  with  man,  and  that  these  particulars 
in  the  aggregate  are  what  are  meant  by  human 
prudence. 

But  reflecT:  within  yourself  what  a  universal  pro- 
vidence is  when  the  particulars  are  taken  away. 
Is  it  anything  more  than  a  mere  phrase?  For  that 


246  THE  ^DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

is  called  universal  which  is  made  up  of  the  most 
particular  things  taken  together,  like  any  general 
thing  that  exists  from  its  particulars.  So  if  the 
most  particular  things  are  taken  away  what  is  the 
universal  but  like  a  something  empty  within,  thus 
like  a  surface  with  nothing  inside,  or  an  aggregate 
that  includes  nothing?  If  it  is  claimed  that  the 
Divine  providence  is  a  universal  government,  while 
nothing  is  governed,  but  things  are  merely  held  in 
connection,  and  the  matters  pertaining  to  the  gov- 
ernment are  conducted  by  others,  how  can  this  be 
called  a  universal  government?  There  is  no  king 
with  such  a  government ;  for  if  any  king  should 
permit  his  subjects  to  govern  all  things  of  his  king- 
dom he  would  no  longer  be  a  king,  but  would  be 
merely  so  called ;  thus  he  would  have  the  dignity 
of  the  mere  title,  but  not  of  any  reality.  Govern- 
ment cannot  be  predicated  of  such  a  king,  still  less 
universal  government. 

That  which  is  called  providence  in  God  is  called 
prudence  in  a  man ;  and  as  a  king  cannot  be  said 
to  have  universal  prudence  when  he  has  reserved 
nothing  but  the  title,  in  order  that  his  kingdom 
may  be  called  a  kingdom  and  thus  held  together, 
so  there  can  not  be  said  to  be  a  universal  provid- 
ence when  all  things  are  provided  by  men  from 
their  own  prudence.  The  same  is  true  of  the 
terms  universal  providence  and  universal  govern- 
ment when  applied  to  nature,  with  the  understand- 
ing that  God  created  the  universe  and  endowed 
nature  with  the  power  of  producing  all  things  from 


CH4PTER   X..  N    2O2  247 

itself.  In  this  case,  what  else  is  universal  provid- 
ence than  a  metaphysical  term,  which,  except  as 
a  term,  is  a  nonentity.  Of  those  who  attribute  all 
that  is  produced  to  nature  and  all  that  is  done 
to  human  prudence,  but  who  still  say  with  the  lips 
that  God  created  nature,  there  are  many  who  never 
think  about  the  Divine  providence  except  as  an 
empty  term.  But  the  real  truth  is,  that  the  Divine 
providence  is  in  the  minutest  particulars  of  nature, 
and  in  the  minutest  particulars  of  human  prudence, 
and  that  it  is  from  these  that  it  is  universal. 

202.  The  Lord's  Divine  providence  is  uni- 
versal from  the  minutest  particulars,  in  that  He 
created  the  universe  that  an  infinite  and  eternal  cre- 
ation from  Himself  might  exist  in  it ;  and  this 
creation  exists  by  the  Lord's  forming  a  heaven  out 
of  men  to  be  before  Him  as  one  man,  which  is  His 
image  and  likeness.  That  this  heaven  formed  out 
of  men  is  such  in  the  Lord's  sight,  and  that  this  was 
the  end  of  creation,  is  shown  above  (n.  27-45)  ;  also 
that  the  Divine  in  all  that  it  does  looks  to  the  in- 
finite and  eternal  (n.  46-69).  The  infinite  and  eter- 
nal that  the  Lord  looks  to  in  forming  His  heaven 
out  of  men,  is  that  it  shall  be  enlarged  to  infinity 
and  to  eternity,  and  that  He  may  thus  have  a  con- 
stant abiding  place  in  the  end  of  His  creation. 
This  is  the  infinite  and  eternal  creation  that  the 
Lord  provided  for  through  the  creation  of  the  uni- 
verse ;  and  He  is  constantly  present  in  that  creation 
by  His  Divine  providence. 

Who  that  knows  and  believes  from  the  doclrine 


248  THE  THYINE  VRO^IDENCE 

oi  the  church  that  God  is  infinite  and  eternal  (for 
it  is  in  the  doctrine  of  all  the  churches  of  the 
Christian  world  that  God  the  Father,  God  the  Son, 
and  God  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  infinite,  eternal,  un- 
created, and  omnipotent,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  Ath- 
anasian  creed),  can  be  so  devoid  of  reason  as  not 
to  admit  as  soon  as  he  hears  it  that  God  cannot  do 
otherwise  than  look  to  what  is  infinite  and  eternal 
in  the  great  work  of  His  creation.  For  what  else 
can  He  look  to  when  He  looks  from  Himself? 
This  also  He  looks  to  in  the  human  race,  from 
which  He  forms  that  heaven  which  is  His  own. 
What  else,  then,  can  the  Divine  providence  have  for 
its  end  than  the  reformation  and  salvation  of  the 
human  race?  But  no  one  can  be  reformed  by 
himself  by  means  of  his  own  prudence,  but  only  by 
the  Lord  by  means  of  His  Divine  providence.  Thus 
it  follows  that  unless  man  were  led  every  moment 
and  fraction  of  a  moment  by  the  Lord,  he  would 
depart  from  the  way  of  reformation  and  would  per- 
ish. 

Every  change  and  variation  of  the  state  of  the 
human  mind  produces  some  change  and  variation 
in  the  series  of  things  present,  and  consequently  in 
the  things  that  follow ;  why  not  then  progressively 
to  eternity?  It  is  like  an  arrow  shot  from  a  bow, 
which,  if  it  should  depart  in  the  least  at  its  start 
from  the  line  of  aim,  would  at  a  distance  of  a  thous- 
and paces  or  more  go  far  wide  of  the  mark.  So 
would  it  be  if  the  Lord  did  not  lead  the  states  of 
human  minds  everv  least  moment.  This  the  Lord 


CHAPTER  X.,  N.  20}  249 

does  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  His  Divine 
providence ;  and  it  is  in  accordance  with  these 
laws  that  it  should  seem  to  man  that  he  leads  him- 
self; while  how  he  leads  himself  is  foreseen  by  the 
Lord  with  an  unceasing  adaptation.  That  the  laws 
of  permission  are  also  the  laws  of  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence, and  that  every  man  can  be  reformed  and 
regenerated,  and  that  there  is  no  other  possible 
predestination,  will  be  seen  in  what  follows. 

203.  Since,  therefore,  every  man  lives  for  ever 
after  death,  and  is  allotted  a  place  according  to  his 
life,  either  in  heaven  or  in  hell,  and  since  both 
heaven  and  hell  must  exist  in  a  form  that  will  act  as 
a  one,  as  said  before,  and  since  no  one  can  be  al- 
lotted in  that  form  any  place  but  his  own,  it  follows 
that  the  human  race  throughout  the  whole  world 
is  under  the  Lord's  auspices ;  and  that  each  one, 
from  infancy  even  to  the  end  of  his  life,  is  led  by  the 
Lord  in  the  least  particulars,  and  his  place  foreseen 
and  at  the  same  time  provided. 

From  all  this  it  is  clear  that  the  Lord's  Divine 
providence  is  universal  because  it  is  in  every  least 
particular ;  and  that  this  is  the  infinite  and  eternal 
creation  which  the  Lord  provided  for  Himself  by 
means  of  the  creation  of  the  universe.  Of  this  uni- 
versal providence  man  sees  nothing.  If  he  did  see 
it  it  would  be  seen  only  as  one  passing  sees  scat- 
tered heaps  and  accumulated  material  from  which 
a  house  is  to  be  built,  while  the  Lord  sees  it  as  a 
magnificent  palace,  with  its  work  of  construction 
and  enlargement  constantly  going  on. 


250  THE  'DIVINE  PROVIDENCE 

204.  (v.)   Heaven    and   hell   are   in    such    a 
form. — That    heaven    is   in   the   human   form    has 
been  made  known  in  the  work  on  Heaven  and  Hell, 
published  in  London  in  1758  (n.  59-102);  also  the 
work  on  The  Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom; 
also  in  several  places  in  the  present  treatise.     Fur- 
ther evidence  will  therefore  be  omitted.     Hell  also 
is  said  to   be  in  the  human  form  ;    but  it  is  in  a 
monstrous  human  form,  like  that  of  the  devil,  by 
whom  is  meant  hell   in  the  whole  complex.     Hell 
is  in  the  human  form,  because  those  who  are  there 
were  also  born  men,  and  have  the  two  human  fac- 
ulties called   liberty  and  rationality,  although  they 
have  abused  their  liberty  in  willing  and  doing  evil 
and    their  rationality  in    thinking    and    confirming, 
evil. 

205.  (vi.)    Those  that  have  acknowledged  na- 
ture   alone  and  human  prudence   alone  constitute 
hell ;   while  those  that  have  acknowledged  God  and 
His  Divine  providence  constitute  heaven. — All  who 
lead  an  evil  life  interiorly  acknowledge  nature  and 
human   prudence    only ;    the   acknowledgment    of 
these  is  inwardly  hidden  in  all   evil,  howsoever  it 
may  be  covered  over  with  goods  and  truths.     These 
are  only  borrowed  garments,  or  are  like  wreaths  of 
perishable  flowers,  put  on  lest  evil  should  appear  in 
its  nakedness.     Because  of  this  general  covering  it 
is  not  known  that  all  who  lead  an  evil  life  interiorly 
acknowledge  nature  and    human    prudence    alone, 
for  this  is  hidden  from  sight  by  the  covering.     But 


CHAPTER   X.,  N.  2O6  251 

by  considering  the  source  and  cause  of  their  ac- 
knowledgment it  can  be  made  clear  that  it  is  such. 
To  make  this  evident  it  shall  be  told  whence  man's 
own  prudence  is  and  what  it  is ;  and  then  whence 
the  Divine  providence  is  and  what  it  is  ;  also  who 
and  what  those  are  of  each  class ;  and  finally  what 
those  who  acknowledge  the  Divine  providence  are 
in  heaven,  and  what  those  who  acknowledge  their 
own  prudence  are  in  hell. 

206*  Whence  man's  prudence  is  and  what  it 
is.  It  is  from  man's  own  (proprium]  which  is  his  na- 
ture, and  is  called  his  soul  from  his  parent.  This 
own  is  the  love  of  self  and  the  love  of  the  world 
therefrom,  or  is  the  love  of  the  world  and  the  love 
of  self  therefrom.  It  is  the  nature  of  the  love  of 
self  to  regard  self  only,  and  to  regard  others  as  of 
little  or  no  account ;  if  it  gives  any  consideration 
to  some  it  is  only  so  long  as  they  honor  and  pay 
court  to  it.  Inmostly  in  that  love,  like  the  endea- 
vor in  seed  to  bring  forth  fruit  or  offspring,  there 
lies  hidden  a  desire  to  become  great,  and  if  possible 
to  become  a  ruler,  and  still  further  if  possible  to 
become  a  god.  A  devil  is  such,  for  he  is  self-love 
itself;  he  is  such  that  he  adores  himself,  and  favors 
no  one  who  does  not  adore  him ;  any  other  devil 
like  himself  he  hates,  because  he  wishes  to  be 
adored  exclusively.  As  there  is  no  love  without 
its  mate,  and  as  the  mate  of  the  love  or  the  will  in 
man  is  called  the  understanding,  when  the  love  of 
self  breathes  its  own  love  into  its  mate,  the  under- 
standing, this  in  the  mate  becomes  conceit,  which 


252  THE  'DIVINE  TROWDENCE 

is  the  conceit  of  one's  own  intelligence.  This  is 
the  origin  of  one's  own  prudence. 

Since,  then,  the  love  of  self  wills  to  be  the  sole 
lord  of  the  world,  and  thus  a  god,  the  lusts  of  evil, 
which  are  derivatives  of  that  love,  have  their  life 
from  it ;  the  same  is  true  of  the  perceptions  be- 
longing to  the  lusts,  which  are  devices  ;  also  of  the 
delights  belonging  to  the  lusts,  which  are  evils ;  also 
of  the  thoughts  belonging  to  the  delights,  which  are 
falsities.  They  are  all  like  servants  and  attendants 
of  their  lord  and  obey  his  every  nod,  not  know- 
ing that  they  do  not  act,  but  are  only  acled  upon. 
They  are  acled  upon  by  the  love  of  self  through  the 
conceit  of  their  own  intelligence.  This  makes  clear 
how  it  is  that  in  every  evil,  from  its  origin,  one's 
own  prudence  lies  hidden. 

The  acknowledgment  of  nature  alone  also  lies 
hidden  in  it,  because  it  has  closed  the  window  of 
its  roof  which  looks  heavenward,  as  well  as  the 
side  windows,  lest  it  should  see  and  hear  that  the 
Lord  alone  governs  all  things,  and  that  nature  in 
itself  is  dead,  and  that  man's  own  is  hell,  and  con- 
sequently the  love  of  one's  own  is  the  devil.  Then 
with  its  windows  closed .  it  is  in  darkness,  and 
there  it  makes  a  hearth  for  itself  at  which  it  sits 
with  its  mate,  and  they  reason  together  in  a  friendly 
way  in  favor  of  nature  and  against  God,  and  in 
favor  of  one's  own  prudence  and  against  the  Divine 
providence. 

207.  Whence  the  Divine  providence  is  and 
what  it  is.  It  is  the  Divine  operation  in  man  that 


CHAPTER   X.,  N.  2O8  253 

takes  away  the  love  of  sell ;  for,  as  just  said,  the 
love  of  self  is  the  devil ;  and  lusts  and  their  enjoy- 
ments are  the  evils  of  his  kingdom,  which  is  hell. 
When  that  love  has  been  taken  away  the  Lord 
enters  with  affections  of  love  of  the  neighbor,  and 
opens  the  roof  window,  and  then  the  side  windows, 
and  enables  man  to  see  that  there  is  a  heaven,  a 
life  after  death,  and  eternal  happiness ;  and  by 
means  of  the  spiritual  light  together  with  the  spir- 
itual love  then  flowing  in  He  enables  man  to  ac- 
knowledge that  God  governs  all  things  by  His 
Divine  providence. 

208.  Who  and  what  those  of  each  class  are. 
Those  who  acknowledge  God  and  His  Divine  pro- 
vidence are  like  the  angels  of  heaven,  who  refuse 
to  be  led  by  themselves  and  love  to  be  led  by 
the  Lord.  It  is  an  evidence  that  they  are  led  by  the 
Lord  that  they  love  the  neighbor.  But  those  who 
acknowledge  nature  and  their  -own  prudence  are 
like  spirits  of  hell,  who  refuse  to  be  led  by  the 
Lord  and  love  to  be  led  by  themselves.  If  they 
have  been  great  men  in  a  kingdom  they  wish  to 
rule  over  all  things ;  likewise  if  they  have  been 
primates  of  the  church ;  if  they  have  been  judges 
they  pervert  judgment  and  exercise  arbitrary  power 
over  the  laws ;  if  they  have  been  learned  they  em- 
ploy their  knowledges  to  uphold  what  is  mauls  own 
(proprium)  and  nature ;  if  they  have  been  merchants 
they  turn  robbers  ;  if  husbandmen,  thieves.  They 
are  all  enemies  of  God  and  scoffers  at  the  Divine 
providence. 


254  THE  ^DIVINE   'PROVIDENCE 

209.  It  is  remarkable  that  when  to  such  heaven 
is  opened,  and  they  are  told  that  they  are  insane, 
and  this  is  also  made  evident  to  their  very  percep- 
tion, which  is  done  by  influx  and  enlightenment,  still 
they  shut  up  heaven  to  themselves  with  indigna- 
tion, and  look  to  the  earth,  under  which  is  hell. 
This  takes  place  with  those  in  the  spiritual  world 
who  are  not  yet  in  hell,  and  who  are  of  this  char- 
acter. This  shows  how  mistaken  those  are  who 
think,  "When  I  have  seen  heaven  and  have  heard 
angels  talking  with  me  I  shall  acknowledge."  Their 
understanding  acknowledges ;  but  if  the  will  does 
not  also  acknowledge  they  do  not  acknowledge  ; 
for  the  will's  love  inspires  the  understanding  with 
whatever  it  desires,  and  not  the  reverse ;  it  even 
destroys  in  the  understanding  every  thing  that  is 
not  from  itself. 

210.  (viii.)  None  of  these  things  could  be  done 
except  from  the  appearance  to  man  that  he  thinks 
from  himself  and  directs  all  things  from  himself. 
— It  has  been  fully  shown  in  what  has  gone  before 
that  man  would  not  be  man  except  for  the  appear- 
ance to  him  that  he  lives  from  himself,  and  there- 
fore thinks  and  wills  and  speaks  and  acts  as  if  from 
himself.  From  this  it  follows  that  unless  man,  as 
if  from  his  own  prudence,  directs  all  things  belong- 
ing to  his  employment  and  life,  he  cannot  be  led 
and  directed  from  the  Divine  providence ;  for  he 
would  be  like  one  standing  with  relaxed  hands, 
closed  eyes,  and  breath  repressed,  awaiting  influx. 


CHAPTER   X.,  N.  211  255 

Thus  he  would  divest  himself  of  humanity,  which 
he  has  from  the  perception  and  sensation  that  he 
lives,  thinks,  wills,  speaks,  and  a<5ts  as  if  from  him- 
self ;  he  would  also  divest  himself  of  his  two  facul- 
ties, liberty  and  rationality,  by  which  he  is  distin- 
guished from  the  beasts.  That  without  this  appear 
ance  a  man  would  have  no  capacity  to  receive  and 
reciprocate,  and  thus  no  immortality,  has  been 
shown  above  in  the  present  work,  and  also  in  The 
Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom. 

If,  therefore,  you  wish  to  be  led  by  the  Divine 
providence  use  prudence  as  a  servant  and  minister 
who  faithfully  dispenses  the  goods  of  his  master. 
This  prudence  is  the  talent  given  to  the  servants 
to  trade  with,  of  which  they  must  render  an  ac- 
count (/,&/£<?  xix.  13-28;  Matt.  xxv.  14-31).  Prud- 
ence itself  seems  to  man  to  be  his  own  ;  and  he 
believes  it  to  be  his  own  so  long  as  he  keeps  shut 
up  within  him  the  deadliest  enemy  of  God  and  of 
Divine  providence,  the  love  of  self.  This  has  its 
abode  in  the  interiors  of  every  man  from  his  birth  ; 
if  you  do  not  recognize  it  (for  it  does  not  wish 
to  be  recognized)  it  dwells  securely,  and  guards 
the  door  lest  man  should  open  it,  and  the  Lord 
should  thereby  cast  it  out.  Man  opens  this  door 
by  shunning  evils  as  sins  as  if  from  himself,  with 
the  acknowledgment  that  he  does  it  from  the  Lord. 
This  is  the  prudence  with  which  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence acls  as  one.. 

211.  The  Divine  providence,  in  order  that  man 
may  not  perish,  works  so  secretly  that  scarcely  any 


256  THE   <D/r/N£   ^PROVIDENCE 

one  knows  of  its  existence.  For  man's  own  (propri- 
*/»),  which  is  his  will,  in  no  wise  acts  as  one  with 
the  Divine  providence ;  man's  own  has  an  inborn 
enmity  against  it ;  in  facl,  man's  own  is  the  ser- 
pent that  seduced  the  first  parents,  of  which  it  is 
said, 

"  I  will  put  enmity  between  thee  and  the  woman,  and  be- 
tween thy  seed  and  her  Seed  ;  and  it  shall  bruise  thy 
head"  (Gen.  iii.  15). 

"The  serpent"  is  evil  of  all  kinds,  its  "head"  is 
love  of  self;  "  the  Seed  of  the  woman"  is  the  Lord  ; 
the  "enmity,"  that  is  put,  is  between  the  love  be- 
longing to  man's  own  and  the  Lord,  and  thus  be- 
tween man's  own  prudence  and  the  Lord's  Divine 
providence.  For  man's  own  prudence  is  continu- 
ally raising  its  head,  and  the  Divine  providence  is 
continually  putting.it  down. 

If  man  felt  this  he  would  be  provoked  and  en- 
raged against  God,  and  would  perish ;  but  as  long 
as  he  does  not  feel  it  he  may  be  provoked  and  en- 
raged with  men  and  with  himself,  and  also  with  for- 
tune, but  this  does  not  destroy  him.  In  this  way 
the  Lord  by  his  Divine  providence  continually  leads 
man  in  freedom,  and  the  freedom  always  appears 
to  man  to  be  that  which  is  his  own.  And  to  lead 
man  in  freedom  in  opposition  to  himself  is  like 
raising  a  heavy  and  resisting  weight  from  the  earth 
by  means  of  screws,  through  the  power  of  which  the 
weight  and  resistance  are  not .  felt ;  or  it  is  like  a 
man  in  company  with  an  enemy  who  intends  to 
kill  him,  which  at  the  time  he  does  not  know,  and 


,  CHAPTER   X.,  N.  212  257 

a  friend  leads  him  away  by  unknown  paths,  and 
afterwards  discloses  his  enemy's  intention. 

212.  Who  does  not  talk  about  fortune?  And 
who  does  not  acknowledge  it,  because  he  talks 
about  it,  and  knows  something  about  it  from  expe- 
rience? But  who  knows  what  it  is?  That  it  is 
something,  since  it  exists  and  operates,  cannot  be 
denied  ;  and  a  thing  cannot  exist  and  operate  with- 
out a  cause ;  but  the  cause  of  this  something,  that 
is,  of  fortune,  is  unknown.  But  that  fortune  be  not 
denied  because  its  course  is  unknown,  take  dice  or 
cards  and  play,  or  talk  with  those  who  play.  Do 
any  such  deny  fortune?  For  they  play  with  it  and 
it  with  them  in  a  wonderful  way.  Who  can  suc- 
ceed against  fortune  if  it  is  obstinate?  Does  it  not 
then  laugh  at  prudence  and  wisdom?  While  you 
shake  the  dice  and  shuffle  the  cards  does  not  for- 
tune seem  to  know  and  to  direct  the  turns  and 
movements  of  the  muscles  of  the  hand,  to  favor  one 
party  more  than  the  other  from  some  cause?  And 
can  the  cause  have  any  other  possible  source  than 
the  Divine  providence  in  outmosts,  where  by  con- 
stancy and  by  change  it  deals  wonderfully  with  hu- 
man prudence,  and  yet  conceals  itself? 

It  is  known  that  the  heathen  formerly  acknow- 
ledged Fortune  and  built  her  a  temple,  also  the 
Italians  at  Rome.  About  this  fortune,  which  is,  as 
has  been  said,  the  Divine  providence  in  outmosts, 
it  has  been  granted  me  to  learn  many  things  that 
I  am  not  permitted  to  disclose ;  by  which  it  has 
been  made  clear  to  me  that  it  is  no  illusion  of  the 


258  THE  T>/F/N£   TROflDENCE 

mind  or  sport  of  nature,  nor  a  something  without 
a  cause,  for  that  is  not  anything,  but  an  ocular  proof 
that  the  Divine  providence  is  in  the  least  particu- 
lars of  man's  thoughts  and  actions.  As  the  Divine 
providence  is  in  the  least  particulars  of  things  so 
insignificant  and  trifling,  still  more  is  it  in  the  least 
particulars  of  things  not  insignificant  and  trifling, 
as  the  affairs  of  peace  and  war  in  the  world,  or 
of  salvation  and  life  in  heaven. 

2x3.  But  I  know  that  human  prudence  is  more 
able  to  draw  the  reason  over  to  its  side  than  the 
Divine  providence  is,  because  the  Divine  providence 
does  not  make  itself  evident  as  human  prudence 
does.  That  there  is  one  only  life,  which  is  God, 
and  that  all  men  are  recipients  of  life  from  Him,  as 
frequently  shown  before,  can  be  more  easily  accept- 
ed ;  and  yet  this  is  the  same  thing,  for  prudence 
belongs  to  the  life.  Who  in  his  reasoning,  when 
he  speaks  from  the  natural  or  external  man,  does 
not  speak  in  favor  of  one's  own  prudence  and  in 
favor  of  nature?  And  who  in  his  reasoning,  when 
he  speaks  from  the  spiritual  or  internal  man,  does 
not  speak  of  the  Divine  providence  and  of  God? 
But  to  the  natural  man  I  say,  Pray  write  two  books, 
one  in  favor  of  one's  own  prudence,  the  other  in 
favor  of  nature,  and  fill  them  with  arguments  plaus- 
ible, probable,  likely,  and  in  your  judgment  valid ; 
and  then  give  them  into  the  hand  of  any  angel ; 
and  I  know  that  the  angel  will  write  underneath 
these  few  words,  They  are  all  appearances  and  fal- 
lacies. 


XL 


THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  LOOKS  TO  ETERNAL  THINGS,  AND 
TO  TEMPORAL  THINGS  ONLY  SO  FAR  AS  THEY  AGREE 
WITH  ETERNAL  THINGS. 

•1 
214. 

THAT  the  Divine  providence  looks  to  eternal 
things,  and  to  temporal  things  only  so  far  as 
they  make  one  with  eternal  things,  will   be 
shown  in  the  following  order : 

(i.)  Temporal  things  relate  to  dignities  and 
riches,  thus  to  honors  and  acquisitions 
in  the  world. 

(ii.)  Eternal  things  relate  to  spirittial  honors 
and  possessions  which  pertain  to  lm>e 
and  wisdom  in  heaven. 

(iii.)  Temporal  things  and  eternal  things  art. 
separated  by  man,  but  are  conjoined  by 
the  Lord. 

(i  v.)  The  conjunction  of  temporal  things  and  eter- 
nal things  is  the  Lord's  Divine  provid- 
ence. ' 

215.  (i.)  Temporal  things  relate  to  dignities  and 
riches,  thus  to  honors  and  acquisitions  in  the  world. 
— Temporal  things  are  manifold,  but  they  all  relate 
to  dignities  and  riches.  Temporal  things  mean  such 
as  either  perish  with  time,  or  are  merely  terminated 
with  man's  life  in  the  world ;  but  eternal  things 
mean  such  as  do  not  perish  or  terminate  with  time, 
or  with  life  in  the  world.  And  since,  as  has  been 


260  THE  TUflNE  TROWDENCE 

said,  all  temporal  things  have  relation  to  dignities 
and  riches  it  is  important  to  know  the  following, 
namely,  what  dignities  and  riches  are  and  whence 
they  are  ;  what  the  love  of  them  for  their  own  sake 
is,  and  what  the  love  of  them  for  the  sake  of  uses 
is  ;  that  these  two  loyes  are  distinct  from  each  other 
as  heaven  and  hell  are ;  that  the  difference  between 
these  two  loves  can  scarcely  be  made  known  to 
man.  But  of  these  separately. 

First :  What  dignities  and  riches  are,  and  whence 
they  are.  Dignities  and  riches  in  the  most  ancient 
times  were  wholly  different  from  what  they  after- 
wards gradually  became.  Dignities  in  the  earliest 
times  were  such  only  as  were  accorded  by  child- 
ren to  parents ;  they  were  dignities  of  love,  full  of 
respect  and  veneration,  not  on  account  of  their 
birth  from  them  but  because  of  the  instruction 
and  wisdom  received  from  them,  which  was  a  sec- 
ond birth,  in  itself  spiritual,  because  it  was  the  birth 
of  their  spirit.  This  was  the  only  dignity  in  the 
earliest  times ;  for  tribes,  families,  and  households 
then  dwelt  apart,  and  not  under  general  govern- 
ments as  at  this  day.  It  was  the  father  of  the  fam- 
ily to  whom  this  dignity  was  accorded.  By  the 
ancients  those  times  were  called  the  golden  ages. 

But  after  those  times  the  love  of  rule  from  the 
mere  delight  of  that  love  gradually  came  in ;  and 
because  enmity  and  hostility  against  those  who 
were  unwilling  to  submit  entered  at  the  same  time, 
tribes,  families,  and  households  necessarily  gathered 
themselves  together  into  general  communities,  and 


CHAPTER   XL,  N.  21$  261 

appointed  over  themselves  one  whom  they  at  first 
called  judge,  and  afterwards  prince,  and  finally  king 
and  emperor.  At  the  same  time  they  began  to 
protect  themselves  by  towers,  earthworks,  and  walls. 
From  judge,  prince,  king,  or  emperor,  as  from,  the 
head  into  the  body,  the  lust  of  ruling  spread  like 
a  contagion  to  others ;  and  from  this  arose  degrees 
of  dignity,  and  honors  according  to  them  ;  and 
with  these  the  love  of  self  and  the  pride  of  one's 
own  prudence.  • 

Then  there  was  a  like  change  in  regard  to  the 
love  of  riches.  In  the  earliest  times,  wrhen  tribes 
and  families  dwelt  apart  from  one  another,  there 
was  no  other  love  of  riches  than  a  desire  to  possess 
the  necessaries  of  life,  which  they  acquired  by 
means  of  their  flocks  and  herds,  and  their  lands, 
fields,  and  gardens,  which  furnished  them  with  food. 
Among  their  necessaries  of  life  were  also  suitable 
houses,  furnished  with  useful  things  of  every  kind, 
and  also  clothing.  The  parents,  children,  servants, 
and  maids  in  a  house  were  engaged  in  the  care 
and  labor  connected  with  all  these  things. 

But  when  the  love  of  rule  had  entered  and  de- 
stroyed this  commonwealth,  the  love  of  possessing 
wealth  beyond  their  necessities  also  entered,  §  and 
grew  to  such  a  height  that  it  desired  to  possess 
the  wealth  of  all  others.  These  two  loves  are  like 
blood-relations  ;  for  he  that  wishes  to  rule  over  all 
things  also  wishes  to  possess  all  things  ;  thus  all 
others  become  servants,  and  they  alone  lords.  This 
is  clearly  evident  from  those  within  the  papal  juris- 


262  THE  'DIVINE  <PROYIDENCE 

diction,  who  have  exalted  their  dominion  even  into 
heaven  to  the  throne  of  the  Lord,  upon  which  they 
have  placed  themselves  ;  they  also  seek  to  grasp  the 
wealth  of  all  the  earth,  and  to  enlarge  their  treasur- 
ies without  end. 

Secondly  :  What  the  love  of  riches  and  dignities 
for  their  own  sake  is,  and  what  the  love  of  digni- 
ties and  riches  for  the  sake  of  uses  is.  The  love 
of  dignities  and  honors  for  the  sake  of  dignities 
and  honors  is  the  love  of  self,  striclly  the  love  of 
ruling  from  the  love  of  self;  and  the  love  of  riches 
and  possessions  for  the  sake  of  riches  and  posses- 
sions is  the  love  of  the  world,  strictly  the  love  of 
possessing  the  goods  of  others  by  any  device  what- 
ever. But  the  love  of  dignities  and  riches  for  the 
sake  of  uses  is  the  love  of  uses,  which  is  the  same 
as  love  of  the  neighbor  ;  for  that  for  the  sake  of 
which  man  a6ls  is  the  end  from  which  he  a<5ts,  and 
this  is  first  or  chief,  while  all  other  things  are  means 
and  are  secondary. 

As  to  the  love  of  dignities  and  honors  for  their 
own  sake,  which  is  the  same  as  the  love  of  self, 
or,  striclly,  the  same  as  the  love  of  rule  from  the 
love  of  self,  it  is  the  love  of  one's  own  (propri-um}, 
and  man's  own  is  all  evil.  For  this  reason  man  is 
said  to  be  born  into  all  evil,  and  what  he  has  hered- 
itarily is  nothing  but  evil.  What  man  has  heredit- 
arily is  his  own,  in  which  he  is  and  into  which  he 
comes  through  the  love  of  self,  and  especially 
through  the  love  of  ruling  from  love  of  self;  for  the 
man  who  is  in  that  love  looks  only  to  himself,  and 


CHAPTER   XL,  N.  215  263 

thus  immerses  his 'thoughts  and  affections  in  what 
is  his  own.  Consequently  there  is  in  the  love  of 
self  the  love  of  doing  evil ;  and  for  the  reason  that 
the  man  loves  not  the  neighbor  but  himself  alone ; 
and  he  who  loves  himself  alone  sees  others  only  as 
apart  from  himself,  or  as  insignificant  or  of  no  ac- 
count, and  he  despises  them  in  comparison  with 
himself,  accounting  it  nothing  to  inflict  evil  upon 
them. 

And  this  explains  why  one  who  is  in  the  love 
of  ruling  from  the  love  of  self  thinks  nothing  of  de- 
frauding the  neighbor,  committing  adultery  with  his 
wife,  defaming  him,  breathing  revenge  against  him 
even  to  murder,  venting  his  rage  against  him,  and 
so  on.  Such  a  character  man  possesses  for  the 
reason  that  the  devil  himself,  with  whom  he  has 
become  conjoined  and  by  whom  he  is  led,  is  nothing 
else  than  a  love  of  ruling  from  the  love  of  self ;  and 
he  who  is  led  by  the  devil,  that  is,  by  hell,  is  led 
into  all  these  evils ;  and  he  is  led  continually  by 
means  of  the  delights  of  these  evils.  For  this  rea- 
son all  who  are  in  hell  wish  to  do  evil  to  all,  while 
those  who  are  in  heaven  wish  to  do  good  to  all. 
From  the  opposition  between  these  an  intermediate 
place  arises  in  which  man  is,  and  in  it  he  is  as  it 
were  in  equilibrium,  which  enables  him  to  turn 
either  to  hell  or  to  heaven ;  and  so  far  as  he  favors 
the  evils  of  love  of  self  he  turns  towards  hell,  but 
so  far  as  he  rejects  those  evils  from  himself  he  turns 
towards  heaven. 

What  and  how  great  the  delight  of  the  love  of 


264  THE  VIPINE  'PROVIDENCE 

ruling  from  the  love  of  self  is  -it  has  been  granted 
me  to  feel.  I  was  let  into  it  that  I  might  know 
what  it  is.  It  was  such  as  to  surpass  all  the  de- 
lights that  there  are  in  the  world ;  it  was  a  delight 
of  the  whole  mind  from  its  inmosts  to  its  outmosts ; 
but  it  was  felt  in  the  body  only  as  an  agreeable 
and  pleasurable  sensation  in  the  swelling  breast. 
It  was  also  granted  me  to  perceive  that  from  that 
delight,  as  from  their  fountain,  gushed  forth  the  de- 
lights of  all  evils,  as  adultery,  revenge,  fraud,  defam- 
ation, and  evil  doing  in  general.  There  is  a  like 
delight  in  the  love  of  possessing  the  goods  of  others 
by  whatever  device,  and  from  that  love  in  the  lusts 
derived  from  it ;  yet  not  in  the  same  degree  unless 
that  love  is  conjoined  with  the  love  of  self.  But  in 
regard  to  dignities  and  riches  not  for  their  own 
sake  but  for  the  sake  of  uses,  this  is  not  a  love  of 
dignities  and  riches,  but  a  love  of  uses,  to  which 
dignities  and  riches  are  serviceable  as  means ;  this 
is  a  heavenly  love.  But  more  on  this  subjecl  here- 
after. 

Thirdly  :  These  two  loves  are  distinc~l  from  each 
other  as  heaven  and  hell  are.  This  is  clear  from 
what  has  just  been  said ;  to  which  I  will  add,  that 
all  who  are  in  a  love  of  ruling  from  a  love  of  self, 
whoever  they  are,  whether  great  or  small,  are  in 
hell  as  to  their  spirits ;  and  that  all  who  are  in  that 
love  are  in  the  love  of  all  evils,  and  if  they  do  not 
commit  them,  in  their  spirit  they  believe  them  to 
be  allowable,  and  therefore  they  do  them  in  the 
body  when  dignity  and  honor  and  fear  of  the  law 


CHAPTER   XI.,  N.  2/5  265 

do  not  hinder.  And  what  is  more,  the  love  of 
ruling  from  the  love  of  self  inmostly  conceals  in 
itself  hatred  against  God,  consequently  against  Di- 
vine things  pertaining  to  the  church,  and  especially 
against  the  Lord.  If  they  acknowledge  God  it  is 
only  with  the  lips  ;  and  if  they  acknowledge  the 
Divine  things  of  the  church  it  is  from  a  fear  of  the 
loss  of  honor.  Such  a  love  has  inmostly  stored 
up  in  it  hatred  against  the  Lord,  for  the  reason 
that  there  is  inmostly  in  it  a  desire  to  be  God, 
since  it  worships  and  adores  itself  alone.  Therefore 
if  any  one  honors  it  so  far  as  to  say  that  it  pos- 
sesses Divine  wisdom  and  is  the  deity  of  the  world, 
it  heartily  loves  him. 

It  is  not  so  with  the  love  of  dignities  and  riches 
for  the  sake  of  uses  ;  this  is  a  heavenly  love,  being 
the  same,  as  has  been  said,  as  love  of  the  neighbor. 
By  uses  goods  are  meant ;  and  therefore  doing  uses 
means  doing  goods,  and  doing  uses  or  goods  means 
serving  others  and  ministering  to  them.  Although 
such  enjoy  dignity  and  wealth  they  regard  them 
only  as  means  for  performing  uses,  thus  for  serving 
and  ministering.  Such  are  meant  by  these  words 
of  the  Lord  : 

"Whosoever  will  become  great  among  you  must  be  your 
minister ;  and  whosoever  will  be  first  .  .  must  be  your 
servant"  (Matt.  xx.  26,  27). 

To  such  also  dominion  in  heaven  is  entrusted  by 
the  Lord  ;  because  to  such,  dominion  is  a  means  for 
doing  uses  or  goods,  thus  for  serving  ;  and  when 
uses  or  goods  are  the  ends  or  loves  it  is  the  Lord 


266  THE   T)IWNE   'PROVIDENCE 

and  not  they  that  rule,  for  all  good  is  from  the 
Lord. 

Fourthly  :  The  difference  between  these  loves  can 
scarcely  be  made  known  to  man.  For  most  of  those 
who  possess  dignity  and  wealth  also  perform  uses  ; 
but  they  do  not  know  whether  they  do  this  for 
their  own  sake  or  for  the  sake  of  the  uses  ;  and  this 
is  still  less  known  because  there  is  more  of  the  fire 
and  ardor  of  doing  uses  in  love  of  self  and  the 
world  than  those  have  who  are  not  in  the  love  of 
self  and  the  world  ;  but  the  former  perform  uses 
for  the  sake  of  reputation  or  gain,  thus  for  the 
sake  of  self ;  while  those  who  perform  uses  for  the 
sake  of  uses,  or  goods  for  the  sake  of  goods,  do 
this  from  the  Lord,  and  not  from  self. 

The  difference  between  these  can  scarcely  be 
recognized  by  man,  because  man  does  not  know 
whether  he  is  led  by  the  devil  or  by  the  Lord.  He 
that  is  led  by  the  devil  performs  uses  for  the  sake 
of  self  and  the  world  ;  but  he  that  is  led  by  the  Lord 
performs  uses  for  the  sake  of  the  Lord  and  heaven  ; 
and  all  who  shun  evils  as  sins  perform  uses  from 
the  Lord,  while  all  who  do  not  shun  evils  as  sins 
perform  uses  from  the  devil  ;  since  evil  is  the  devil, 
and  use  or  good  is  the  Lord.  In  this  and  in  no 
other  way  is  the  difference  recognized.  In  external 
form  they  appear  alike,  but  in  internal  form  they  are 
wholly  unlike.  One  is  like  gold  within  which  is 
dross,  the  other  is  like  gold  with  pure  gold  within. 
One  is  like  artificial  fruit,  which  in  external  form 
appears  like  fruit  from  a  tree,  although  it  is  colored 


CHAPTER   XI.,  N.  21 6  267 

wax  containing  within  it  dust  or  bitumen  ;  while  the 
other  is  like  excellent  fruit,  pleasing  in  taste  and 
smell,  and  containing  seeds  within. 

216.  (ii.)  Eternal  things  relate  to  spiritual  hon- 
ors and  possessions  which  pertain  to  love  and  wis- 
dom in  heaven. — As  the  delights  of  the  love  of  self, 
which  are  also  delights  of  the  lusts  of  evil,  are  called 
good  by  the  natural  man,  and  he  asserts  them  to 
be  good,  he  calls  honor  and  possessions  Divine 
blessings.  But  when  this  natural  man  sees  that  the 
evil  as  well  as  the  good  are  exalted  to  honors  and 
advanced  to  wealth,  and  still  more  when  he  sees 
the  good  despised  and  in  poverty  and  the  evil  in 
glory  and  opulence,  he  thinks  to  himself,  "Why  is 
this?  It  cannot  be  of  the  Divine  providence.  For 
if  that  governed  all  things  it  would  heap  honors 
and  possessions  upon  the  good,  and  would  afflicl: 
the  evil  with  poverty  and  contempt,  and  thus  drive 
the  evil  to  the  acknowledgment  that  there  is  a  God 
and  a  Divine  providence." 

But  the  natural  man,  unless  enlightened  by  the 
spiritual  man,  that  is,  unless  he  is  at  the  same  time 
spiritual,  does  not  see  that  honors  and  possessions 
may  be  blessings  and  also  may  be  curses,  and  that 
when  they  are  blessings  they  are  from  God,  and 
when  they  are  curses  they  are  from  the  devil.  That 
honors  and  possessions  are  bestowed  by  the  devil 
is  confessed,  for  from  this  he  is  called  the  prince 
of  the  world.  Since,  then,  it  is  not  known  when 
honors  and  possessions  are  blessings  and  when  they 


268  THE  ^Dl'/lNE  'PROVIDENCE 

are  curses  it  shall  be  told,  and  in  the  following  order: 
(i.)  Honors  and  possessions  are  blessings  and  they 
are  curses.  (2.)  When  honors  and  possessions  are. 
blessings  they  are  spiritual  and  eternal,  but  when 
they  are  curses  they  are  temporal  and  perishable. 
(3.)  Honors  and  possessions  that  are  curses,  com- 
pared with  honors  and  possessions  that  are  bless- 
ings, are  as  nothing  to  everything,  or  as  that  which 
in  itself  is  not  to  that  which  in  itself  is. 

217.  These  three  points  shall  now  be  illustrated 
separately.  First :  Honors  and  possessions  are  bless- 
ings and  they  are  curses.  General  experience  wit- 
nesses that  both  the  pious  and  the  impious,  or  both 
the  just  and  the  unjust,  that  is,  both  the  good  and 
the  evil,  alike  enjoy  dignities  and  possessions,  and 
yet  no  one  can  deny  that  the  impious  and  unjust, 
that  is,  the  evil,  come  into  hell,  while  the  pious  and 
just,  that  is,  the  good,  come  into  heaven.  This  being 
true,  it  follows  that  dignities  and  riches,  or  honors 
and  possessions,  are  both  blessings  and  curses  ; 
blessings  to  the  good  and  curses  to  the  evil.  In  the 
work  on  Heaven  and  Hell,  published  at  London  in 
the  year  1758  (n.  357-365),  it  has  been  shown  that 
in  heaven  there  are  both  rich  and  poor,  and  both 
great  and  small,  and  in  hell  also;  which  makes 
clear  that  dignities  and  riches  were  blessings  in  the 
world  to  those  now  in  heaven,  and  were  curses  in 
the  world  to  those  now  in  hell.  But  why  they  are 
blessings  and  why  they  are  curses  any  one  may 
know  if  he  only  reflecls  a  little  about  it  from  rea-, 
son  ;  that  is,  he  may  know  that  they  are  blessings 


CHAPTER   XL,  N.  21 J  269 

to  those  who  do  not  set  their  hearts  upon  them, 
and  curses  to  those  who  do  set  their  hearts  upon 
them.  To  set  the  heart  upon  them  is  to  love  one- 
self in  them  ;  and  not  to  set  the  heart  upon  them  is 
to  love  uses  in  them,  and  not  self.  What  difference 
there -is  between  .these  two  loves  and  what  that  dif- 
ference is  has  been  told  above  (n.  215)  ;  to  which 
must  be  added  that  some  are  led  astray  by  dignities 
and  possessions,  and  some  are  not.  These  lead 
astray  when  they  excite  the  loves  of  man's  own 
(proprium],  and  man's  own  is  love  of  self.  That  this 
is  the  love  of  hell,  which  is  called  the  devil,  has  also 
been  shown  above.  But  they  do  not  lead  astray 
when  they  do  not  excite  this  love. 

Both  the  evil  and  the  good  are  exalted  to  hon- 
ors and  advanced  to  wealth,  because  the  evil  equally 
with  the  good  perform  uses ;  but  the  evil  do  this 
for  the  sake  of  honors  and  profit  to  their  own  per- 
son, while  the  good  do  it  for  the  sake  of  the  honors 
and  profit  to  the  work  itself.  The  good  regard  the 
honors  and  profit  pertaining  to  the  work  itself  as 
principal  motives,  and  the  honors  and  profit  per- 
taining to  their  own  person  as  instrumental  motives  ; 
while  the  evil  regard  the  honors  and  profit  pertain- 
ing to  the  person  as  principal  motives,  and  those 
to  the  work  as  instrumental  motives.  But  who  does 
not  see  that  the  person  and  his  work  and  honor 
are  for  the  sake  of  the  matter  which  he  is  accom- 
plishing, and  not  the  reverse?  Who  does  not  see 
that  the  judge  is  for  the  sake  of  justice,  the  magis- 
trate for  the  sake  of  the  common  welfare,  and  the 


270  THE  'DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

king  for  the  sake  of  the  kingdom,  and  not  the  re- 
verse? And  therefore  every  one,  in  accordance  with 
the  laws  of  the  kingdom,  is  granted  dignity  and 
honor  according  to  the  dignity  of  the  task  he  is  per- 
forming. And  who  does  not  see  that  the  difference 
is  like  that  between  what  is  principal  and  what  is 
instrumental?  He  that  attributes  to  himself  or  to 
his  own  person  the  honor  belonging  to  his  function 
appears  in  the  spiritual  world,  when  there  is  a  re- 
presentation of  it,  like  a  man  with  his  body  inverted, 
feet  up  and  head  down. 

Secondly  :  When  dignities  and  possessions  are 
blessings  they  are  spiritual  and  eternal,  and  when 
they  are  curses  they  are  temporal  and  perishable. 
There  are  dignities  and  possessions  in  heaven  as 
in  the  world,  for  there  are  governments  there,  and 
consequently  administrations  and  functions,  also 
business  transactions  and  consequent  possessions, 
since  there  are  societies  and  communities  there. 
The  entire  heaven  is  divided  into  two  kingdoms, 
one  of  which  is  called  the  celestial  kingdom,  the 
other  the  spiritual  kingdom ;  and  each  kingdom 
into  societies  without  number,  larger  and  smaller, 
all  of  which,  with  all  who  are  in  them,  are  arranged 
according  to  differences  of  love  and  of  wisdom 
therefrom  ;  the  societies  of  the  celestial  heaven  ac- 
cording to  the  differences  of  celestial  love,  which  is 
love  to  the  Lord,  and  the  societies  of  the  spiritual 
kingdom  according  to  the  differences  of  spiritual 
love,  which  is  love  towards  the  neighbor.  Because 
these  societies  are  such,  and  because  all  who  are  in 


CHAPTER   XI.,  N.  21 J  271 

them  have  been  men  in  the  world,  and  therefore  re- 
tain the  loves  which  they  had  in  the  world  (with  the 
difference  that  they  are  now  spiritual,  and  that  the 
dignities  and  possessions  are  now  spiritual  in  the 
spiritual  kingdom  and  celestial  in  the  celestial  king- 
dom), therefore  those  who  have  love  and  wisdom 
more  than  others  have  dignities  and  possessions 
more  than  others  ;  and  these  are  those  to  whom 
dignities  and  possessions  were  blessings  in  the 
world. 

From  all  this  it  can  be  seen  what  spiritual  dig- 
nities and  possessions  are,  and  that  they  belong  to 
the  work  and  not  to  the  person.  A  person  who  is 
in  dignity  there  is  in  magnificence  and  glory  like 
that  of  kings  on  earth  ;  and  yet  they  do  not  regard 
the  dignity  itself  as  anything,  but  the  uses,  in  the 
ministration  and  discharge  of  which  they  are  en- 
gaged. They  receive  honors,  indeed,  suited  to  the 
dignity  of  each  one  ;  but  they  do  not  attribute  it 
to  themselves,  but  to  the  uses  ;  and  because  all  uses 
are  from  the  Lord  they  attribute  the  honors  to  the 
Lord,  from  whom  they  come.  Such,  therefore,  are 
spiritual  dignities  and  possessions,  which  are  eter- 
nal. 

But  it  is  otherwise  with  those  to  whom  dignities 
and  possessions  in  the  world  have  been  curses. 
Because  they  attributed  these  to  themselves  and  not 
to  the  uses,  and  because  they  desired  to  control 
the  uses  and  not  to  be  controlled  by  them,  and 
deemed  uses  to  be  uses  merely  so  far  as  they  were 
serviceable  to  their  honor  and  glory,  they  are  in 


272  THE  TUPINE  'PROVIDENCE 

hell,  and  are  vile  slaves  there,  despised  and  miser- 
able. And  because  such  dignities  and  possessions 
perish  they  are  called  temporal  and  perishable.  Of 
these  two  classes  the  Lord  thus  teaches  : 

"  Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasures  upon  the  earth, 
where  moth  and  rust  doth  consume,  and  where  thieves 
dig  through  and  steal ;  but  lay  up  for  yourselves  treas- 
ures in  heaven,  where  neither  moth  nor  rust  doth  con- 
sume, and  where  thieves  do  not  dig  through  nor  steal ; 
for  where  your  treasure  is  . .  your  heart  will  also  be  " 
(Matt.  vi.  10-21). 

Thirdly  :  Dignities  and  possessions  that  are  curs- 
es, compared  with  dignities  and  possessions  that  are 
blessings,  are  as  nothing  to  everything,  or  as  that 
which  in  itself  is  not  to  that  which  in  itself  is.  Evr 
erything  that  perishes  and  comes  to  nothing  is 
inwardly  in  itself  nothing ;  outwardly  it  is  some- 
thing, and  even  seems  to  be  much,  and  to  some  it 
seems  to  be  everything  as  long  as  it  lasts ;  but  it 
is  not  so  inwardly  in  itself.  It  is  like  a  surface  with 
nothing  within  it ;  or  like  an  a<5tor  in  royal  robes 
when  the  play  is  over.  But  that  which  remains  for- 
ever is  in  itself  something  perpetually,  thus  every- 
thing ;  and  it  also  is,  for  it  does  not  cease  to  be. 

218.  (iii.)  7*emporal  things  and  eternal  things 
are  separated  by  man,  but  are  conjoined  by  the  Lord. 
— This  is  true  because  all  things  pertaining"  to  man 
are  temporal,  and  for  this  reason  man  may  be  called 
temporal;  while  all  things  pertaining  to  the  Lord 
are  eternal,  and  for  this  reason  the  Lord  is  called 
Eternal.  Temporal  things  are  those  that  have  an 


CHAPTER   XL,  N.  21$  273 

• 

end  and  perish ;  while  eternal  things  are  those  that 
have  no  end  and  do  not  perish.  Any  one  can  see 
that  the  two  can  be  conjoined  only  through  the 
Lord's  infinite  wisdom,  and  thus  can  be  conjoined 
by  the  Lord,  but  not  by  man. 

But  to  make  known  that  the  two  are  separated 
by  man  and  are  conjoined  by  the  Lord  it  must  be 
shown  in  this  order:  (i.)  What  temporal  things 
are,  and  what  eternal  things  are.  (2.)  Man  is  in 
himself  temporal  and  the  Lord  is  in  Himself  eter- 
nal ;  and  therefore  only  what  is  temporal  can  pro- 
ceed from  man,  and  only  what  is  eternal  from  the 
Lord.  (3.)  Temporal  things  separate  eternal  things 
from  themselves,  and  eternal  things  conjoin  tem- 
poral things  to  themselves.  (4.)  The  Lord  conjoins 
man  with  Himself  by  means  of  appearances.  (5.) 
Also  by  means  of  correspondences. 

219.  But  these  points  must  be  illustrated  and 
established  one  by  one.  First :  What  temporal 
things  are  and  what  eternal  things  are.  Temporal 
things  are  all  things  that  are  proper  to  nature,  and 
all  things  therefrom  that  are  proper  to  man.  The 
things  proper  to  nature  are  especially  spaces  and 
times,  both  having  limit  and  termination  ;  the  things 
therefrom  proper  to  man  are  those  that  belong  to 
his  own  will  and  his  own  understanding,  and  con- 
sequently to  his  affection  and  thought,  and  especially 
to  his  prudence  ;  these,  it  is  admitted,  are  finite  and 
limited.  But  eternal  things  are  all  such  as  are 
proper  to  the  Lord,  and  from  Him  are  seemingly 
proper  to  man.  All  things  proper  to  the  Lord 


274  THE  'DiyiNE  TROYIDENCE 

9 

are  infinite  and  eternal,  thus  without  time,  conse- 
quently without  limit  and  without  end.  Things 
therefrom  seemingly  proper  to  man  are  likewise 
infinite  and  eternal,  yet  nothing  of  them  is  man's, 
but  they  belong  to  the  Lord  alone  in  man. 

Secondly  :  Man  is  in  himself  temporal,  and  the 
Lord  is  in  Himself  eternal;  and  therefore  only 
what  is  temporal  can  proceed  from  man,  and  only 
what  is  eternal  from  the  Lord.  It  has  been  said 
above  that  man  in  himself  is  temporal,  and  the 
Lord  in  Himself  eternal.  As  nothing  can  proceed 
from  any  one  except  what  is  in  him,  it  follows  that 
nothing  but  what  is  temporal  can  proceed  from 
man,  and  nothing  but  what  is  eternal  from  the 
Lord.  For  the  infinite  cannot  proceed  from  the 
finite ;  to  say  that  it  can  is  a  contradiction .  And 
yet  the  infinite  can  proceed  from  the  finite,  although 
not  from  the  finite  but  from  the  infinite  through 
the  finite.  Neither,  on  the  other  hand,  can  the  finite 
proceed  from  the  infinite ;  to  say  that  it  can  is  also 
a  contradiction  ;  yet  the  finite  can  be  produced  by 
the  infinite,  but  this  is  creating,  not  proceeding.  Qn 
this  subject  see  Angelic  Wisdom  concerning  the 
Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom,  from  begin- 
ning to  end.  Consequently  when  what  is  finite  pro- 
ceeds from  the  Lord,  as  is  the  case  in  many  things 
in  man,  it  does  not  proceed  from  the  Lord  but  from 
man ;  and  it  can  be  said  to  proceed  from  the  Lord 
through  man,  because  it  so  appears. 

This  may  be  illustrated  by  these  words  of  the 
Lord: 


CHAPTER  XL,  N.  2/p  275 

"Let  your  speech  be,  Yea,  yea;  Nay,  nay  ;  for  whatever 
is  beyond  these  is  from  evil "  (Matt.  v.  37). 

Such  is  the  speech  of  all  in  the  third  heaven ;  for 
they  'never  reason  about  Divine  things  whether  a 
thing  is  so  or  not  so,  but  they  see  in  themselves 
from  the  Lord  whether  it  is  so  or  is  not  so.  There- 
fore a  reasoner  reasons  about  Divine  things  whether 
they  are  so  or  not,  because  he  does  not  see  them 
from  the  Lord,  but  wishes  to  see  from  himself;  and 
what  man  sees  from  himself  is  evil.  Nevertheless, 
the  Lord  is  willing  that  a  man  should  think  and 
talk  about  Divine  things,  and  also  reason  about 
them  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  a  thing  to  be  so  or 
not  so ;  and  such  thought,  speech,  or  reasoning, 
provided  the  end  is  to  see  the  truth,  can  be  said  to 
be  from  the  Lord  in  man,  although  it  is  from  man 
until  he  sees  the  truth  and  acknowledges  it.  Mean- 
while it  is  only  from  the  Lord  that  man  has  the 
ability  to  think,  to  talk,  and  to  reason ;  for  he  has 
this  ability  from  the  two  faculties  called  liberty  and 
rationality,  and  man  has  these  faculties  from  the 
Lord  alone. 

Thirdly  :  Temporal  things  separate  eternal  things 
from  themselves,  and  eternal  things  conjoin  temp- 
oral things  to  themselves.  That  temporal  things 
separate  eternal  things  from  themselves  means  that 
this  is  done  by  man,  who  is  temporal,  from  the 
temporal  things  in  himself;  and  that  eternal  things 
conjoin  temporal  things  to  themselves  means  that 
this  is  done  by  the  Lord,  who  is  eternal,  from  the 
eternal  things  in  Himself,  as  has  been  said  above. 


276  THE  DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

It  has  been  shown  in  the  foregoing  pages  that  there 
is  a  conjunction  of  the  Lord  with  man  and  a  re- 
ciprocal conjunction  of  man  with  the  Lord ;  but 
that  this  reciprocal  conjunction  of  man  with  the 
Lord  is  not  from  man  but  from  the  Lord ;  also  that 
man's  will  runs  counter  to  the  Lord's  will ;  or,  what 
is  the  same  thing,  man's  own  prudence  runs  coun- 
ter to  the  Lord's  Divine  providence.  From  all  this 
it  follows  that  man  [when  acting]  from  his  temporal 
things  separates  from  himself  the  Lord's  eternal 
things,  but  that  the  Lord  conjoins  His  eternal  things 
with  man's  temporal  things,  that  is,  Himself  with 
man  and  man  with  Himself.  As  these  points  have 
been  fully  treated  heretofore,  further  confirmation 
is  not  necessary. 

Fourthly :  The  Lord  conjoins  man  with  Him- 
self by  means  of  appearances.  For  the  appearance 
is  that  it  is  from  himself  that  man  loves  the  neigh- 
bor, does  good,  and  speaks  the  truth ;  and  except 
for  this  appearance  man  would  not  love  the  neigh- 
bor, do  good,  and  speak  truth,  thus  would  not  be 
conjoined  with  the  Lord.  But  love,  good,  and 
truth  are  from  the  Lord ;  evidently,  then,  it  is  by 
means  of  appearances  that  the  Lord  conjoins  man 
with  Himself.  But  this  appearance,  and  the  Lord's 
conjunction  with  man,  and  man's  reciprocal  conjunc- 
tion with  the  Lord  by  means  of  it,  have  been  fully 
considered  above. 

Fifthly  :  The  Lord  conjoins  man  with  Himself 
by  means  of  correspondences.  This  is  done  by 
means  of  the  Word,  the  literal  sense  of  which  con- 


CHAPTER   XL,  N.  22O  111 

sists  of  pure  correspondences.  That  by  means  of 
this  sense  there  is  a  conjunction  of  the  Lord  with 
man  and  a  reciprocal  conjunction  of  man  with  the 
Lord  has  been  shown  in  the  Doctrine  of  the  New 
Jerusalem  concerning  the  Sacred  Scripture,  from 
beginning  to  end. 

22O.  (iv. )  The  conjunction  of  temporal  things 
and  eternal  things  in  man  is  the  Lord' s  Divine 
providence. — But  as  these  things  cannot  enter  into 
the  first  perception,  even,  of  the  understanding  until 
they  have  been  arranged  in  order,  and  unfolded 
and  made  clear  according  to  that  order,  let  them 
be  set  forth  as  follows  :  (i.)  It  is  from  the  Divine 
providence  that  by  death  man  puts  off  what  is  nat- 
ural and  temporal,  and  puts  on  what  is  spiritual 
and  eternal.  (2.)  Through  His  Divine  providence 
the  Lord  conjoins  Himself  with  natural  things  by 
means  of  spiritual  things,  and  with  temporal  things 
by  means  of  eternal  things,  according  to  uses.  (3. ) 
The  Lord  conjoins  Himself  with  uses  by  means  of 
correspondences,  and  thus  by  means  of  appearances, 
in  accordance  with  the  confirmations  of  these  by 
man.  (4. )  This  conjunction  of  temporal  and  eter- 
nal things  is  the  Divine  providence.  But  let  these 
things  be  made  clear  by  explanations. 

First  :  It  is  from  the  Divine  providence  that  by 
death  man  puts  off  what  is  natural  and  temporal, 
and  puts  on  what  is  spiritual  and  eternal.  Natural 
and  temporal  things  are  the  extremes  and  outmosts 
into  which  man  first  enters  ;  and  this  he  does  at 


278  THE  DIVINE   'PROVIDENCE 

birth,  to  the  end  that  he  may  be  able  afterwards 
to  be  introduced  into  things  more  internal  and 
higher.  For  extremes  and  outmosts  are  contain- 
ants  ;  and  these  are  in  the  natural  world.  And 
this  is  why  no  angel  or  spirit  was  created  such  im- 
mediately, but  were  all  born  first  as  men,  and  were 
thus  brought  into  higher  things.  From  this  they 
have  extremes  and  outmosts  which  in  themselves  are 
fixed  and  permanent,  within  which  and  by  which 
interiors  can  be  held  together  in  connection. 

But  at  first  man  puts  on  the  grosser  things  of 
nature ;  these  constitute  his  body  ;  but  by  death  he 
puts  these  off,  and  retains  the  purer  things  of  nature 
which  are  nearest  to  spiritual  things  ;  and  these  then 
become  his  containants.  Furthermore,  all  interior 
things  are  simultaneously  in  extremes  or  outmosts, 
as  has  already  been  shown  ;  and  consequently  the 
entire  working  of  the  Lord  is  from  first  principles 
and  from  outmosts  simultaneously,  thus  in  fulness. 
But  inasmuch  as  the  extremes  or  outmosts  of  nature 
are  not  receptive  of  the  spiritual  and  eternal  things, 
in  conformity  to  which  the  human  mind  was  formed, 
as  these  are  in  themselves,  and  yet  man  was  born 
to  become  spiritual  and  to  live  for  ever,  therefore 
these  are  put  off  by  man,  and  he  retains  only  the 
interior  natural  things  that  agree  and  harmonize 
with  the  spiritual  and  celestial,  and  serve  them  as 
containants.  This  is  accomplished  by  the  rejection 
of  temporal  and  natural  outmosts,  which  is  the 
death  of  the  body. 

Secondly  :    Through  His  Divine  providence  the 


CHAPTER  XL,  N.  22O  279 

Lord  conjoins  Himself  with  natural  things  by  means 
of  spiritual  things,  and  with  temporal  things  by 
means  of  eternal  things,  according  to  uses.  Natural 
and  temporal  things  are  not  only  such  as  are  proper 
to  nature,  but  also  such  as  are  proper  to  men  in 
the  natural  world.  Both  of  these  man  puts  off  by 
death,  and  puts  on  the  spiritual  and  eternal  things 
that  correspond  to  them.  That  these  are  put  on  in 
accordance  with  uses  has  been  abundantly  shown 
heretofore.  The  natural  things  that  are  proper  to 
nature  have  relation  in  general  to  times  and  spaces, 
and  in  particular  to  the  things  that  are  seen  on 
the  earth.  It  is  these  that  man  leaves  by  death,  and 
in  place  of  them  he  takes  on  spiritual  things,  which 
are  similar  in  outer  aspect  or  appearance,  but  <not 
in  inner  aspect  and  very  essence  (which  also  has 
been  treated  of  above). 

The  temporal  things  that  are  proper  to  men  in 
the  natural  world  have  relation  in  general  to  dig- 
nities and  possessions,  and  in  particular  to  every 
one's  necessities,  which  are  food,  clothing,  and  hab- 
itation. These  also  are  put  off  by  death  and  left 
behind ;  and  things  are  put  on  and  received  that 
are  similar  in  outer  aspect  or  appearance,  but  not 
in  inner  aspect  and  essence.  All  these  have  their 
inner  aspect  and  essence  from  the  uses  of  temp- 
oral things  in  the  world.  Uses  are  the  goods  that 
are  called  the  goods  of  charity.  From  all  this  it 
can  be  seen  that  through  His  Divine  providence 
the  Lord  conjoins  spiritual  and  eternal  things  with 
natural  and  temporal  things  according  to  uses. 


280  THE   ^DIVINE   TROY1DENCE 

Thirdly  :  The  Lord  conjoins  Himself  with  uses 
by  means  of  correspondences,  and  thus  by  means  of 
appearances  in  accordance  with  the  confirmations  of 
these  by  man.  As  this  must  needs  seem  obscure 
to  those  who  have  not  yet  gained  a  clear  notion 
of  what  correspondence  is  and  what  appearance  is, 
they  must  be  illustrated  by  example,  and  thus  ex- 
plained. All  things  of  the  Word  are  pure  corre- 
spondences of  spiritual  and  celestial  things,  and  be- 
cause they  are  correspondences  they  are  also  appear- 
ances ;  that  is,  all  things  of  the  Word  are  the  Divine 
goods  of  the  Divine  love  and  the  Divine  truths  of  the 
Divine  wisdom,  which  in  themselves  are  naked,  but 
in  the  sense  of  the  letter  of  the  Word  are  clothed. 
They  therefore  appear  like  a  man  in  clothing  that 
corresponds  to  the  state  of  his  love  and  wisdom. 
All  this  makes  evident  that  when  a  man  confirms 
appearances  it  is  the  same  as  asserting  that  the 
clothes  are  the  man.  It  is  thus  that  appearances 
are  converted  into  fallacies.  It  is  otherwise  when 
man  is  seeking  for  truths  and  sees  them  in  the 
appearances. 

Since,  then,  all  uses,  that  is,  the  truths  and  goods 
of  charity  that  a  man  does  to  the  neighbor,  may 
be  done  either  in  accordance  with  these  appear- 
ances or  in  accordance  with  the  truths  of  the  Word, 
when  he  does  them  in  accordance  with  the  appear- 
ances confirmed  in  himself  he  is  in  fallacies  ;  but 
when  he  does  them  in  accordance  with  truths  he 
does  them  as  he  ought.  All  this  makes  clear  what 
is  meant  when  it  is  said  that  the  Lord  conjoins 


CHAPTER   XL,  N.  220  281 

Himself  with  uses  by  means  of  correspondences, 
and  thus  by  means  of  appearances  in  accordance 
with  the  confirmations  of  these  by  man. 

Fourthly :  This  conjunction  of  temporal  and 
eternal  things  is  the  Divine  providence.  To  set 
this  before  the  understanding  with  some  clearness 
let  it  be  illustrated  by  two  examples,-  one  relating 
to  dignities  and  honors,  and  the  other  to  riches 
and  possessions.  Both  of  these  are,  in  external 
form,  natural  and  temporal,  but  in  internal  form 
are  spiritual  and  eternal.  Dignities  with  their  hon- 
ors are  natural  and  temporal  when  man  regards 
himself  personally  in  them,  and  not  the  common- 
wealth and  uses  ;  for  then  man  must  needs  think 
interiorly  in  himself  that  the  commonwealth  is  for  his 
sake,  and  not  he  for  the  commonwealth's  sake.  He 
is  like  a  king  who  thinks  that  the  kingdom  and  all 
the  people  in  it  exist  for  his  sake,  and  not  he  for  the 
sake  of  the  kingdom  and  the  people. 

But  these  same  dignities  with  their  honors  are 
spiritual  and  eternal  when  man  regards  himself  per- 
sonally as  existing  for  the  sake  of  the  common- 
wealth and  uses,  and  not  that  they  exist  for  his 
sake.  When  man  does  this  he  is  in  the  verity  and 
essence  of  his  dignity  and  honor ;  but  in  the  former 
case  he  is  in  the  correspondence  and  appearance  [of 
dignity  and  honor] ;  and  if  he  confirms  these  in 
himself  [as  the  truth]  he  is  in  fallacies,  and  is  in 
conjunction  with  the  Lord  only  as  those  are  who 
are  in  falsities  and  in  evils  therefrom  ;  for  fallacies 
are  the  falsities  with  which  evils  are  conjoined. 


282  THE  <D/F/N£  TROYIDENCE 

They  have,  indeed,  promoted  uses  and  good  works, 
but  from  themselves  and  not  from  the  Lord ;  thus 
they  have  put  themselves  in  the  Lord's  place. 

It  is  the  same  with  riches  and  possessions,  which 
also  may  be  natural  and  temporal  or  spiritual  and 
eternal.  They  are  natural  and  temporal  with  those 
who  look  solely  to  them,  and  to  themselves  in  them, 
finding  in  these  their  sole  pleasure  and  delight.  But 
these  same  things  are  spiritual  and  eternal  with 
those  who  look  to  good  uses  in  them,  and  find  in 
these  uses  interior  pleasure  and  delight.  With  such, 
moreover,  the  outward  pleasure  and  delight  become 
spiritual,  and  the  temporal  becomes  the  eternal. 
Therefore  such  after  death  are  in  heaven  ;  and  there 
they  live  in  palaces,  the  furnishings  of  which  are 
resplendent  with  gold  and  precious  stones ;  but 
these  they  regard  only  as  externals,  resplendent  and 
translucent  from  their  internals  which  are  uses, 
and  from  these  uses  they  have  essential  pleasure 
and  enjoyment ;  and  this  in  itself  is  the  happiness 
and  bliss  of  heaven.  The  reverse  is  the  lot  of  such 
as  have  looked  to  riches  and  possessions  solely  for 
their  own  sake  and  for  what  can  be  gained  from 
them,  thus  for  the  sake  of  externals  and  not  for  the 
sake  of  internals  also ;  thus  according  to  the  way 
they  appear  and  not  according  to  their  essences. 
When  such  put  off  these  appearances,  which  they 
do  at  death,  they  put  on  the  internals  belonging 
to  them  ;  and  as  these  are  not  spiritual  they  must 
needs  be  infernal,  for  one  or  the  other  of  these 
must  be  in  them,  since  the  two  cannot  exist  to- 


CHAPTER   XL,  N.  22O  283 

gether.  Consequently  in  place  of  riches  they  have 
poverty,  and  in  place  of  possessions  wretchedness. 
By  uses  are  not  meant  merely  the  necessaries  of 
life,  which  have  relation  to  food,  clothing,  and  hab- 
itation for  the  individual  and  those  dependent  on 
him,  but  also  the  good  of  one's  country,  of  society, 
and  of  the  fellow  citizen.  Business  is  such  a  good 
when  that  is  the  final  love,  and  money  is  a  mediate 
and  subservient  love,  provided  the  business  man 
shuns  and  turns  away  from  frauds  and  evil  devices 
as  sins.  It  is  otherwise  when  money  is  the  final 
love,  and  the  business  is  the  mediate  and  subserv- 
ient love ;  for  this  is  avarice,  which  is  the  root  of 
evils  (respecting  which  see  Luke  xii.  15,  and  the 
parable  relating  to  it,  verses  16-21.). 


X5I. 


MAN  IS  ADMITTED  INTERIORLY  INTO  TRUTHS  OF  FAITH  AND 
INTO  GOODS  OF  CHARITY  ONLY  SO  FAR  AS  HE  CAN 
BE  KEPT  IN  THEM  UNTIL  THE  END  OF  HIS  LIFE 

221. 

IT  is  acknowledged  in  'the  Christian  world  that 
the  Lord  wills  the  salvation  of  all,  and  that  He 
is  almighty ;  and  from  this  many  conclude  that 
He  is  able  to  save  every  one,  and  that  He  saves 
those  who  implore  His  mercy  ;  especially  those  who 
implore  it  after  the  formula  of  the  received  faith, 
that  God  the  Father  will  be  merciful  for  the  sake 
of  the  Son  ;  and  particularly  if  they  pray  at  the  same 
time  that  they  may  receive  that  faith.  But  that  it 
is  altogether  otherwise  will  be  seen  in  the  last  chap- 
ter of  this  work,  where  it  will  be  explained  that 
the  Lord  cannot  acl  contrary  to  the  laws  of  his 
Divine  providence,  because  to  acl  against  these 
would  be  to  acl;  contrary  to  His  Divine  love  and 
His  Divine  wisdom,  thus  contrary  to  Himself.  It 
will  also  be  seen  there  that  such  immediate  mercy 
is  impossible,  because  the  salvation  of  man  is  effected 
by  means,  and  only  He  who  wills  the  salvation  of 
all,  and  is  at  the  same  time  almighty,  in  other 
words,  the  Lord,  is  able  to  lead  man  in  accordance 
with  these  means.  The  means  whereby  man  is  led 
by  the  Lord  are  what  are  called  the  laws  of  the 


CHAPTER   XII.,  N.  222  285 

Divine  providence ;  and  among  these  is  this,  that 
man  is  admitted  interiorly  into  the  truths  of  wis- 
dom and  into  the  goods  of  love  only  so  far  as  he 
can  be  kept  in  them  until  the  end  of  his  life.  But 
to  make  this  clear  to  the  reason  it  must  be  ex- 
plained in  the  following  order : 

(i.)   A  man  may  be  admitted  into  the  wisdom 
of  spiritual  things,  and  also  into  a  love 
for  them,  and  yet  not  be  reformed. 
(ii.)    If  he  afterwards  recedes  from  them,  ancl 
passes  over  into  the  opposite,  he  profanes 
holy  things. 
(iii.)    There  are  many  kinds  of  profanation,  but 

this  is  the  worst  kind  of  all. 
(iv.)  Therefore  the  Lord  admits  man  interiorly 
into  the  truths  of  wisdom  and  at  the 
same  time  into  the  goods  of  love  only  so 
far  as  he  can  be  kept  in  them  until  the 
end  of  his  life. 

222.  (i.)  A  man  may  be  admitted  into  the  wis- 
dom of  spiritual  things,  and  also  into  a  love  for 
them,  and  yet  not  be  reformed. — This  is  because 
man  has  rationality  and  liberty ;  and  by  rationality 
he  may  be  raised  up  into  wisdom  almost  angelic ; 
and  by  liberty  into  a  love  not  unlike  angelic  love 
Nevertheless  such  as  the  love  is  such  is  the  wis- 
dom. When  the  love  is  celestial  and  spiritual  the 
wisdom  also  becomes  celestial  and  spiritual ;  but 
when  the  love  is  diabolical  and  infernal  the  wisdom 
is  also  diabolical  and  infernal.  In  outward  form, 
and  thus  to  others,  such  wisdom  may  appear  to 
be  celestial  and  spiritual ;  but  in  internal  form, 


286  THE    DIVINE  "PROVIDENCE 

which  is  its  very  essence,  it  is  diabolical  and  in- 
fernal ;  not  as  it  is  out  of  the  man,  but  as  it  is  with- 
in him.  To  men  it  does  not  appear  to  be  such 
because  men  are  natural  and  see  and  hear  natu- 
rally, and  the  external  form  is  natural.  But  to  an- 
gels it  appears  such,  because  angels  are  spiritual 
and  see  and  hear  spiritually,  and  the  internal  form 
is  spiritual. 

From  all  this  it  can  be  seen  that  man  can  be  ad- 
rrtitted  into  the  wisdom  of  spiritual  things,  and  also 
into  a  love  for  them,  and  yet  not  be  reformed,  but 
in  that  case  only  into  a  natural  love  for  them,  and 
not  into  a  spiritual  love  for  them.  This  is  because 
man  has  the  ability  to  admit  himself  into  natural 
love,  while  the  Lord  alone  can  admit  into  spiritual 
love ;  and  such  as  are  admitted  into  that  love  are 
reformed,  but  those  who  are  admitted  into  natural 
love  alone  are  not  reformed.  Such,  in  fact,  are  for 
the  most  part  hypocrites,  and  very  many  of  them 
are  of  the  order  of  Jesuits,  who  interiorly  do  not 
believe  in  the  Divine  at  all,  but  play  with  Divine 
things  outwardly  like  a<5tors. 

223.  By  much  experience  in  the  spiritual  world 
it  has  been  made  known  to  me  that  man  possesses 
the  ability  to  understand  the  secrets  of  wisdom  like 
the  angels  themselves.  For  I  have  seen  iiery  devils 
who,  while  they  were  hearing  the  secrets  of  wis- 
dom, not  only  understood  them  but  from  their  ra- 
tionality talked  about  them.  But  as  soon  as  they 
returned  to  their  diabolical  love  they  ceased  to  un- 
derstand them  ;  and  in  place  of  them  thought  oppos- 


CHAPTER  XII.,  N.  224  287 

ite  things  which  were  produces  of  insanity,  and  this 
they  then  called  wisdom.  I  have  been  permitted  to 
hear  them,  when  they  were  in  a  state  of  wisdom, 
laughing  at  their  own  insanity,  and  when  in  a  state 
of  insanity  laughing  at  wisdom.  The  man  who  has 
been  of  this  character  in  the  world  when  after  death 
he  becomes  a  spirit  is  usually  let  into  alternate  states 
of  wisdom  and  insanity,  that  he  may  see  the  latter 
from  the  former.  But  although  from  wisdom  such 
see  that  they  are  insane,  when  the  choice  is  given 
them,  as  is  done  with  every  one,  they  admij;  them- 
selves into  the  state  of  insanity  and  love  it ;  and 
then  they  regard  with  hatred  the  state  of  wisdom. 
This  is  because  their  internal  has  been  diabolical, 
and  their  external  seemingly  Divine.  Such  are 
meant  by  the  devils  who  make  themselves  angels 
of  light ;  also  by  the  one  at  the  wedding  who  was 
not  clothed  in  a  wedding  garment,  and  was  cast 
into  outer  darkness  {Matt.  xxii.  11-13). 

224.  Who  cannot  see  that  the  external  springs 
from  the  internal,  and  consequently  has  its  essence 
from  the  internal?  And  who  does  not  know  from 
experience  that  the  external  can  present  an  appear- 
ance not  in  accordance  with  its  essence  from  the 
internal?  For  there  is  evidently  such  an  appear- 
ance in  the  case  of  hypocrites,  flatterers  and  pre- 
tenders. And  that  a  man  can  externally  personate 
other  characters  than  his  own  is  manifest  from  play- 
ers and  mimics ;  for  they  know  how  to  represent 
kings,  emperors,  and  even  angels,  in  tone,  language, 
face,  and  gesture,  as  if  they  were  such,  when  yet 


288  THE  <D/F/N£  'PROVIDENCE 

they  are  but  aclors.  This  has  been  said  to  show 
that  man  can  likewise  play  the  hypocrite  both  in 
civil  and  moral  matters  and  in  spiritual  matters ; 
and  it  is  known,  moreover,  that  many  do  so. 

When  the  internal  in  its  essence  is  thus  in- 
fernal,' and  the  external  in  its  form  appears  spirit- 
ual, and  yet,  as  has  been  said,  the  external  draws 
its  essence  from  the  internal,  it  may  be  asked 
where  in  the  external  that  essence  lies  concealed. 
It  does  not  appear  in  gesture,  in  the  tone,  in  the 
speech,  or  in  the  countenance ;  and  yet  it  is  inte- 
riorly hidden  in  all  four  of  these.  That  it  is  in- 
teriorly hidden  in  them  can  be  clearly  seen  from 
these  same  things  in  the  spiritual  world  ;  for  when 
a  man  comes  from  the  natural  world  into  the  spir- 
itual world,  as  he  does  at  death,  he  leaves  his  ex- 
ternals behind  with  the  body,  and  retains  his  in- 
ternals which  he  had  stored  up  in  his  spirit ;  and  if 
his  internal  had  been  infernal  he  then  appears  like 
a  devil,  such  as  his  spirit  had  been  while  he  lived  in 
the  world.  Who  does  not  acknowledge  that  every 
man  leaves  externals  when  he  leaves  the  body,  and 
enters  into  internals  when  he  becomes  a  spirit? 

To  this  I  will  add  that  in  the  spiritual  world 
there  is  a  communication  of  affections  and  of  con- 
sequent thoughts ;  and  therefore  no  one  there  can 
speak  otherwise  than  as  he  thinks.  Also  every  one's 
face  there  is  changed  and  becomes  like  his  affec- 
tions ;  so  that  what  he  is  is  apparent  from  his  face. 
Hypocrites  are  sometimes  permitted  to  speak  other- 
wise than  as  they  think ;  but  the  tone  of  their 


CHAPTER  XII.,  N.  226  289 

speech  is  to  the  ear  wholly  discordant  with  their 
interior  thoughts  ;  and  by  the  discord  their  hypo- 
crisy is  disclosed.  This  makes  clear  that  the  inter- 
nal is  hidden  interiorly  in  the  tone,  in  the  speech,  in 
the  countenance,  and  in  the  gestures,  of  the  exter- 
nal ;  and  this  is  not  perceived  by  men  in  the  natural 
world,  but  is  clearly  perceived  by  angels  in  the 
spiritual  world. 

225.  From  all  this  it  is  now  clear  that  so  long 
as  a  man  lives  in  the  natural  world  he  can  be  ad- 
mitted into  the  wisdom  of  spiritual  things,  and  also 
into  a  love  for  them  ;  and  that  this  can  take  place 
and  does  take  place,  both  with  those  who  are  merely 
natural  and  with  those  who  are  spiritual  ;  but  with 
this   difference,    that  the  spiritual   are  thereby  re- 
formed, while  the  merely  natural  by  the  same  means 
are  not  reformed.     With  these  there  may  be  an  ap- 
pearance that  they  love  wisdom  ;  but  they  merely 
love  it  as  an  adulterer  loves  an  honorable  woman, 
that  is,  as  he  would  love  a  courtesan,  talking  sweetly 
to  her,  giving  her  beautiful  garments,  but  saying  to 
himself  privately,  She  is  nothing  but  a  mere  harlot, 
whom  I  will  make  believe  that  I  love  because  she 
gratifies  my  lust ;  but  if  she  should  fail  to  gratify  it 
I  would  cast  her  off.      The   internal  man  of.  such  is 
that  adulterer  ;  while  their  external  is  that  woman. 

226.  (ii. )   If  a  man  afterwards  recedes  from 
these  spiritual  things  and  passes  over  into  the  oppos- 
ite he  profanes  holy  things. — There  are  many  kinds 
of  profanation  of  what  is  holy  (which  will  be  treated 


290  THE  'DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

of  under  the  following  head),  but  this  kind  is  the 
most  grievous  of  all ;  for  profaners  of  this  kind  after 
death  come  to  be  no  longer  men ;  they  live,  indeed, 
but  are  continually  in  fantastic  hallucinations,  seem- 
ing to  themselves  to  be  flying  on  high ;  and  while 
they  remain  there  they  sport  with  fantasies,  which 
are  seen  by  them  as  real  things ;  and  being  no 
longer  men,  they  are  not  called  "he"  and  "she," 
but  "it."  And  when  they  are  presented  to  view 
in  the  light  of  heaven  they  look  like  skeletons, 
some  like  skeletons  of  the  color  of  bone,  some  as 
fiery  skeletons,  and  others  as  charred.  It  is  un- 
known in  the  world  that  profaners  of  this  kind  be- 
come such  after  death ;  and  it  is  unknown  because 
the  cause  is  unknown.  The  essential  cause  is  that 
when  a  man  has  first  acknowledged  Divine  things 
and  believed  in  them,  and  afterwards  withdraws 
from  and  denies  them,  he  mixes  together  what  is 
holy  and  what  is  profane ;  and  wrhen  these  have 
been  mixed  together  they  can  not  be  separated 
without  destroying  the  whole.  But  to  make  this 
more  clear  to  the  perception  it  shall  be  unfolded  in 
order,  as  follows:  (i.)  Whatever  a  man  thinks, 
says,  and  does  from  his  will,  whether  good  or  evil, 
is  appropriated  to  him,  and  remains.  (2.)  But  the 
Lord,  by  His  Divine  providence,  continually  fore- 
sees and  direcls,  in  order  that  evil  may  be  by  itself 
and  good  by  itself,  and  thus  the  two  may  be  sep- 
arated. (3.)  But  this  cannot  be  done  if  man  ac- 
knowledges the  truths  of  faith  and  lives  accord- 
ing to  them,  and  afterwards  withdraws  from  and 


CHAPTER   XII.,  N.  2 27  291 

denies  them.  (4.)  He  then  mixes  together  good 
and  evil  to  such  an  extent  that  they  cannot  be  sep- 
arated. (5.)  And  since  the  good  and  the  evil  must 
be  separated  in  every  human  being,  and  cannot  be 
separated  in  such  a  one,  he  is  therefore  destroyed 
in  respect  to  every  thing  truly  human. 

227.  Such  are  the  causes  from  which  this  enorm- 
ity springs ;  but  as  ignorance  of  them  causes  ob- 
scurity, they  need  to  be  so  explained  as  to  make 
them  clear  to  the  understanding.  First :  Whatever 
a  man  thinks,  says,  and  does  from  his  will,  whether 
good  or  evil,  is  appropriated  to  him,  and  remains. 
This  has  been  shown  above  (n.  78-81).  For  man 
has  an  external  or  natural  memory,  and  an  internal 
or  spiritual  memory.  Upon  his  internal  memory 
each  and  every  thing  that  he  has  thought,  spoken 
and  done  in  the  world  has  been  inscribed,  so  com- 
pletely and  particularly  that  not  a  single  thing  is 
lacking.  This  memory  is  the  book  of  man's  life, 
which  is  opened  after  death  and  in  accordance  with 
which  he  is  judged.  Many  other  things  with  regard 
to  this  memory,  from  actual  experience,  are  set  forth 
in  the  work  on  Heaven  and  Hell  (n.  461-465). 

Secondly :  But  the  Lord  by  means  of  His  Di- 
vine providence  continually  foresees  and  directs,  in 
order  that  evil  may  be  by  itself  and  good  by  itself, 
and  thus  the  two^  may  be  separated.  Every  man  is 
both  in  evil  and  in  good,  in  evil  from  himself,  and 
in  good  from  the  Lord  ;  nor  can  he  live  unless  he 
is  in  both ;  for  if  he  were  in  self  alone  and  thus  in 
evil  alone  he  would  have  nothing  of  life ;  and  if  he 


292  THE  DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

were  in  the  Lord  alone,  and  thus  in  good  alone, 
he  would  have  nothing  of  life,  for  in  such  a  state 
of  life  he  would  continually  gasp  for  breath  like  one 
suffocated,  or  like  one  in  the  agony  of  death  ;  while 
in  the  former  state  of  life  he  would  become  extinct  ; 
for  evil  apart  from  any  good  is  in  itself  dead ;  con- 
sequently every  man  is  in  both  ;  with  the  difference 
that  in  the  one  case  man  is  interiorly  in  the  Lord 
and  exteriorly  as  it  were  in  himself;  and  in  the 
other  case  is  interiorly  in  himself,  but  exteriorly  as 
it  were  in  the  Lord ;  and  such  a  man  is  in  evil, 
while  the  former  is  in  good  ;  although  they  are  both 
in  both.  The  evil  man  is  in  both  for  the  reason  that 
he  is  in  the  good  of  civil  and  moral  life,  and  also 
outwardly  in  some  good  of  spiritual  life,  besides  be- 
ing kept  by  the  Lord  in  rationality  and  liberty, 
that  he  may  be  capable  of  being  in  good.  It  is  by 
such  good  that  every  one,  even  a  bad  man,  is  led 
by  the  Lord.  From  all  this  it  can  be  seen  that  the 
Lord  keeps  evil  and  good  separate,  so  that  one  may 
be  interior  and  the  other  exterior,  thus  providing 
against  their  being  mixed  together. 

Thirdly  :  But  this  cannot  be  done  if  man  acknow- 
ledges the  truths  of  faith  and  lives  according  to  them, 
and  afterwards  withdraws  from  and  denies  them. 
This  is  clear  from  what  has  already  been  said,  first, 
that  all  things  that  a  man  thinks,  says,  and  does 
from  the  will  are  appropriated  to  him  and  remain ; 
and  secondly,  that  the  Lord  by  His  Divine  provid- 
ence continually  foresees  and  directs,  in  order  that 
good  may  be  by  itself  and  evil  by  itself,  and  that 


CHAPTER  XII.,  N.  227  293 

the  two  may  be  separated.  Moreover,  they  are 
separated  by  the  Lord  after  death.  From  those 
who  are  interiorly  evil  and  outwardly  good  the  good 
is  taken  away,  and  thus  they  are  left  to  their  evil. 
The  reverse  takes  place  with  those  who  are  in- 
teriorly good,  but  outwardly,  like  other  men,  have 
sought  to  gain  riches,  have  striven  for  dignities, 
have  taken  delight  in  various  worldly  interests,  and 
have  favored  certain  lusts  ;  for  with  such  good  and 
evil  have  not  been  mixed  together,  but  have  been 
kept  separate  like  internal  and  external  ;  thus  while 
in  external  form  they  have  been  in  many  respedls 
like  the  evil,  they  have  not  been  so  internally.  But 
with  the  evil  who  in  external  form  have  presented 
the  same  appearance  as  the  good  in  piety,  worship, 
words,  and  works,  while  in  internal  form  they  have 
been  evil,  the  reverse  is  true  ;  although  even  with 
such  evil  is  kept  separate  from  good.  But  in  those 
who  have  acknowledged  the  truths  of  faith  and  lived 
according  to  them,  and  have  afterwards  passed  over 
into  the  opposite  and  have  rejecled  these  truths,  and 
especially  if  they  have  denied  them,  goods  and  evils 
are  no  longer  separate,  but  are  mixed  together. 
For  such  a  man  has  appropriated  good  to  himself, 
and  has  appropriated  evil  to  himself,  and  thus  has 
joined  and  mixed  them  together. 

Fourthly  :  Man  then  mixes  together  good  and 
evil  to  such  an  extent  that  they  cannot  be  separated. 
This  follows  from  what  has  just  been  said.  When 
evil  cannot  be  separated  from  good  and  good  from 
evil  it  is  impossible  to  be  either  in  heaven  or  in 

I 


294  THE  'DIVINE  ^PROVIDENCE 

hell.  Every  human  being  must  be  in  either  one  or 
the  other  ;  he  cannot  be  in  both  ;  for  he  would  then 
be  at  one  time  in  heaven,  and  at  another  time  in 
hell ;  and  when  in  heaven  he  might  be  ailing  in 
accord  with  hell,  and  when  in  hell,  he  might  be  a6l- 
ing  in  accord  with  heaven ;  thus  he  would  destroy 
the  life  of  all  about  him,  heavenly  life  among  the 
angels,  and  infernal  life  among  the  devils ;  whereby 
the  life  of  all  would  perish.  For  each  one  must 
have  his  own  life ;  no  one  lives  in  another's  life, 
still  less  in  an  opposite  life.  For  this  reason,  in 
every  man  after  death,  when  he  becomes  a  spirit  or 
a  spiritual  man,  the  Lord  separates  the  good  from  the 
evil  and  the  evil  from  the  good ;  the  good  from 
the  evil  in  those  who  are  interiorly  in  evil ;  and  the 
evil  from  the  good  in  those  who  are  interiorly  in 
good ;  which  is  according  to  His  words  : 

"To  every  one  that  hath  shall  be  given,  that  he  may 
have  more  abundantly ;  but  from  him  that  hath  not 
shall  be  taken  away  even  that  he  hath  "  (Matt.  xiii. 
12;  xxv.  29;  Mark  iv.  25  ;  Luke  viii.  18  ;  xix.  26). 

Fifthly :  Since  good  and  evil  must  be  separated 
in  every  human  being,  and  cannot  be  separated  in 
such  a  one,  he  is  therefore  destroyed  in  respecl  to 
everything  truly  human.  Every  one  has  what  is 
truly  human  from  rationality,  in  being  able  to  see 
and  to  know,  if  he  will,  what  is  true  and  what  is 
good  ;  also  in  being  able  from  liberty  to  will,  think, 
say,  and  do  it ;  as  has  been  shown  before.  But  this 
liberty  with  its  rationality  has  been  destroyed  in 
those  who  have  mixed  good  and  evil  together  in 


CHAPTER  XII.,  N.  228  295 

themselves ;  for  such  from  good  are  unable  to  see 
evil  and  from  evil  to  recognize  good,  since  the  two 
make  one ;  consequently  they  no  longer  possess  ra- 
tionality in  its  capability  or  power,  nor  therefore 
any  liberty.  For  this  reason  they  are  like  mere 
fantastic  hallucinations,  as  has  been  said  above  ;  and 
they  no  longer  appear  like  men,  but  like  bones 
covered  with  'some  skin  ;  and  therefore  when  re- 
ferred to  they  are  not  called  "he"  or  "she,"  but 
"it."  Such  is  the  lot  of  those  who  in  this  man- 
ner mix  together  things  holy  and  things  profane. 
But  there  are  other  kinds  of  profanation  that  are 
not  like  this,  and  these  will  be  considered  in  a  fol- 
lowing article. 

228.  A  man  who  is  ignorant  of  holy  things 
does  not  thus  profane  them.  For  he  who  is  ignor- 
ant of  them  cannot  acknowledge  them  and  after- 
wards deny  them.  Therefore  those  who  are  outside 
of  the  Christian  world,  and  who  know  nothing 
about  the  Lord,  and  about  redemption  and  salva- 
tion by  Him,  do  not  profane  this  holiness  when  they 
refuse  to  accept  it,  or  even  when  they  speak  against 
it.  Nor  do  the  Jews  profane  it  because  from  in- 
fancy they  are  unwilling  to  accept  and  acknow- 
ledge it.  It  would  be  otherwise  if  they  should  ac- 
cept and  acknowledge  it,  and  afterwards  deny  it ; 
but  this  rarely  occurs ;  although  many  of  them  out- 
wardly, acknowledge  it  and  inwardly  deny  it,  and 
are  like  hypocrites.  But  those  who  profane  holy 
things  by  mixing  them  with  things  profane  are 


296  THE  'DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

such  as    first  accept  and  acknowledge    them,  and 
afterwards  backslide  and  deny. 

This  does  not  refer  to  the  acceptance  and  ac- 
knowledgment of  these  things  in  early  childhood 
and  boyhood ;  this  every  Christian  does  ;  for  the 
things  belonging  to  faith  and  charity  are  not  then 
accepted  and  acknowledged  from  any  rationality 
and  liberty,  that  is,  in  the  understanding  from  the 
will,  but  are  accepted  only  by  memory  and  from 
confidence  in  the  teacher ;  and  if  the  life  is  accord- 
ing to  them  it  is  from  a  blind  obedience.  But  when 
man  comes  into  the  exercise  of  his  rationality  and 
liberty,  which  he  does  gradually  as  he  grows  into 
youth  'and  manhood,  if  he  then  acknowledges  truths 
and  lives  according  to  them  and  afterwards  denies 
them  he  mixes  holy  things  with  profane  things,  and 
from  being  a  man  he  becomes  such  a  monster  as 
has  been  described  above.  If,  however,  from  the 
age  of  rationality  and  liberty,  that  is,  of  self-control, 
and  even  in  early  manhood,  man  is  in  evil,  and 
afterwards  acknowledges  the  truths  of  faith  and  lives 
according  to  them,  provided  he  then  remains  in 
them  until  the  end  of  his  life,  he  does  not  mix  the 
two ;  for  the  Lord  then  separates  the  evils  of  the 
former  life  from  the  goods  of  the  latter  life.  This 
is  done  with  all  who  repent.  But  of  this  more  in 
what  follows. 

229.  (iii.)  There  are  many  kinds  ofprofana- 
tion  of  what  is  holy,  but  this  is  the  worst  kind  of  all. 
— In  the  most  general  sense  profanation  means  all 


CHAPTER   XII.,  N.  2JO  297 

impiety ;  and  therefore  profaners  mean  all  the  im- 
pious, who  in  heart  deny  God,  the  holiness  of  the 
Word,  and  the  spiritual  things  of  the  church  there- 
from, which  are  essentially  holy  things,  and  who  also 
speak  impiously  of  these.  But  of  such  we  are  not 
now  treating,  but  of  those  who  profess  to  believe  in 
God,  who  assert  the  holiness  of  the  Word,  and  who 
acknowledge  the  spiritual  thing^  of  the  church  ; 
most  of  whom,  however,  only  with  the  mouth. 
Such  commit  profanation  for  the  reason  that  what 
is  holy  from  the  Word  is  in  them  and  with  them, 
and  this  which  is  in  them  and  which  makes  some 
part  of  their  understanding  and  will  they  profane ; 
but  in  the  impious,  who  deny  the  Divine  and  Di- 
vine things,  there  is  nothing  holy  that  can  be  pro- 
faned. Such  are  profaners,  and  yet  they  are  not 
profane. 

230.  The  profanation  of  what  is  holy  is  re- 
ferred to  in  the  second  commandment  of  the  Dec- 
alogue, "Thou  shalt  not  profane  the  name  of  thy 
God."  And  the  words  in  the  Lord's  Prayer,  "  Hal- 
lowed be  Thy  name,"  mean  that  this  name  must 
not  be  profaned.  Scarcely  any  one  in  the  Christ- 
ian world  knows  what  is  meant  by  "the  name  of 
God,"  and  for  the  reason  that  no  one  knows  that 
there  are  no  names  in  the  spiritual  world  like  those 
in  the  natural  world,  but  each  one  there  has  a  name 
that  is  in  harmony  with  the  quality  of  his  love  and 
wisdom  ;  for  as  soon  as  any  one  enters  a  society 
or  into  association  with  others,  he  immediately  has 
a  name  that  is  in  accord  with  his  character.  This 


298  THE  'DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

naming  is  effe&ed  by  spiritual  language,  which  is 
such  that  it  is  capable  of  naming  every  thing  ;  for 
each  letter  in  its  alphabet  signifies  a  single  thing, 
and  the  several  letters  joined  into  a  single  word 
and  making  a  person's  name  involve  the  entire 
state  of  the  thing.  This  is  one  of  the  wonders  of 
the  spiritual  world. 

From  all  this  jt  is  clear  that  in  the  Word  "the 
name  of  God  "  signifies  God  with  every  thing  that 
is  in  Him  and  that  goes  forth  from  Him.  And  as 
the  Word  is  the  Divine  going  forth,  which  is  the 
name  of  God,  and  as  all  the  Divine  things  that 
are  called  the  spiritual  things  of  the  church  are 
from  the  Word,  they,  too,  are  "the  name  of  God." 
All  this  makes  clear  what  is  meant  in  the  second 
commandment  of  the  Decalogue, 

"  Thou  shalt  not  profane  the  name  of  God  "  (Exod.  xx.  7)  ; 
and  in  the  Lord's  Prayer  by 

"  Hallowed  be  Thy  name  "  (Matt.  vi.  9). 

• 

The  name  of  God  and  of  the  Lord  has  a  like  signi- 
fication in  many  places  in  the  Word  of  both  Testa- 
ments, 

(as  in  Matt.  vii.  22  ;  x.  22  ;  xviii.  5,  20  ;  xix.  29  ;  xxi.  9  ; 
xxiv.  9,  10;  John  i.  12;  ii.  23;  iii.  17,  18  ;  xii.  13,  28; 
xiv.  14-16  ;  xvi.  23,  24,  26,  27  ;  xvii.  6;  xx.  31) ; 

besides  other  places  ;  and  very  frequently  in  the  Old 
Testament. 

He  who  knows  that  this  is  what  is  signified  by 
"name"  can  understand  what  is  signified  by  these 


CHAPTER   XII.,  N.  2}0  299 

words  of  the  Lord  : 

"  He  that  receiveth  a  prophet  in  the  name  of  a  prophet 
shall  receive  a  prophet's  reward  ;  and  he  that  receiv- 
eth a  righteous  tnan  in  the  name  of  a  righteous  man 
shall  receive  a  righteous  man's  reward.  And  whoso- 
ever shall  give  to  drink  unto  one  of  these  little  ones 
a  cup  of  cold  [water]  only  in  the  name  of  a  disciple 
shall  not. .  lose  his  reward"  (Matt.  x.  41,  42). 

One  who  thinks  that  "the  name  of  a  prophet,"  "of 
a  righteous  man,"  and  "of  a  disciple,"  means  simply 
a  prophet,  a  righteous  man,  and  a  disciple,  recog- 
nizes no  meaning  here  except  that  of  the  letter ;  nor 
does  he  know  what  "the  reward  of  a  prophet"  is, 
or  the  reward  of  "a  righteous  man,"  or  the  "re- 
ward "  for  a  cup  of  cold  water  given  to  a  disciple ; 
nevertheless  "the  name"  and  "the  reward  of  a 
prophet"  mean  the  state  and  the  happiness  of  those 
who  are  in  Divine  truths;  "the  name"  and  "the 
reward  of  a  righteous  man"  mean  the  state  and 
the  happiness  of  those  who  are  in  Divine  goods  ; 
a  "disciple"  means  the  state  of  those  who  are  in 
some  of  the  spiritual  things  of  the  church ;  and 
"a  cup  of  cold  water"  means  something  of  truth. 

That  "name"  signifies  the  nature  of  the  state  of 
love  and  wisdom,  or  of  good  and  truth,  is  made 
evident  also  by  these  words  of  the  Lord : 

"  He  that  entereth  in  by  the  door  is  the  shepherd  of  the 
sheep  ;  to  him  the  porter  openeth,  and  the  sheep  hear 
his  voice  ;  and  he  calleth  his  own  sheep  by  name  and 
leadeth  them  out"  (John  x.  2,  3). 

''To  call  the  sheep  by  name"  means  to  teach  and 
to  lead  every  one  who  is  in  the  good  of  charity  ac- 


300  THE  WINE  TROYIDENCE 

cording  to  the  state  of  his  love  and  wisdom.  ' '  The 
door ' '  means  the  Lord,  as  is  evident  from  the  ninth 

verse  : 

• 

"  I  am  the  door;  through  Me  if  any  one  enter  in  he  shall 
be  saved." 

All  this  makes  clear  that  for  any  one  to  be  saved 
the  Lord  Himself  must  be  approached,  and  that 
whoever  goes  to  Him  is  ' '  a  shepherd  of  the  sheep  ;' ' 
but  whoever  does  not  go  to  Him  is  "  a  thief  and  a 
robber,"  as  is  said  in  the  first  verse  of  the  same 
chapter. 

231.  As  profanation  of  what  is  holy  means 
profanation  by  those  who  know  the  truths  of  faith 
and  the  goods  of  charity  from  the  Word,  and  who 
in  some  measure  acknowledge  them,  and  does  not 
mean  those  who  are  ignorant  of  these,  nor  those 
who  from  impiety  wholly  rejecl  them,  so  what  now 
follows  is  said  of  the  first  class,  and  not  of  the  oth- 
ers. Of  the  profanation  of  such  there  are  several 
kinds,  some  lighter  and  some  more  grievous  ;  but 
they  may  be  referred  to  these  seven.  The  first 
kind  of  profanation  is  committed  by  those  who 
make  jests  from  the  Word  and  about  the  Word,  or 
from  the  Divine  things  of  the  church  and  about 
them.  This  is  done  by  some  from  a  bad  .habit,  in 
taking  names  or  expressions  from  the  Word  and 
mixing  them  with  remarks  that  are  hardly  becom- 
ing, and  sometimes  foul.  This  cannot  but  be  joined 
with  some  contempt  for  the  Word  ;  yet  the  Word 
in  all  things  and  in  every  particular  is  Divine  and 


CHAPTER   XII.,  N.  2JI  301 

holy  ;  for  every  expression  therein  conceals  in  its 
bosom  something  Divine,  and  thereby  has  com- 
munication with  heaven.  But  this  kind  of  profan- 
ation is  lighter  or  more  grievous  according  to  the 
acknowledgment  of  the  holiness  of  the  Word  and 
the  unbecoming  character  of  the  talk  into  which  it 
is  introduced  by  those  who  jest  about  it. 

The  second  kind  of  profanation  is  committed 
by  those  who  understand  and  acknowledge  Divine 
truths,  and  still  live  contrary  to  them.  Those  who 
only  understand  profane  more  lightly,  while  those 
who  also  acknowledge  profane  more  grievously,  for 
the  understanding  merely  teaches,  almost  like  a 
preacher,  and  does  not  from  itself  conjoin  itself  with 
the  will  ;  but  acknowledgment  conjoins,  for  nothing 
can  be  acknowledged  except  by  consent  of  the  will. 
Nevertheless,  the  conjunction  varies,  and  when  one 
is  living  contrary  to  the  truths  that  are  acknow- 
ledged the  profanation  is  measured  by  the  conjunc- 
tion. When,  for  instance,  one  acknowledges  that 
revenge  and  hatred,  adultery  and  fornication,  fraud 
and  deceit,  defamation  and  lying,  are  sins  against 
God,  and  yet  is  committing  them,  he  is  in  this 
kind  of  profanation  more  grievously  ;  for  the  Lord 
says, 

"  The  servant  that  knoweth  his  Lord's  will ....  and  doeth 
not  His  will  shall  be  beaten  with  many  stripes  "  (Luke 
xii.  47). 

And  elsewhere, 

"  If  ye  were  blind  ye  would  have  no  sin  ;  but  now  ye 
say,  We  see;  therefore  your  sin  remaineth "  (John 
ix.  41). 


302  THE  T>IV1NE  'PROVIDENCE 

But  it  is  one  thing  to  acknowledge  appearances  of 
truth,  and  another  to  acknowledge  genuine  truths. 
Those  who  acknowledge  genuine  truths  but  do  not 
live  according  to  them  appear  in  the  spiritual  world 
without  the  light  and  heat  of  life  in  voice  and 
speech,  as  if  they  were  pure  idlers. 

The  third  kind  of  profanation  is  committed  by 
those  who  adapt  the  sense  of  the  letter  of  the  Word 
to  the  confirmation  of  evil  loves  and  false  prin- 
ciples. This  is  because  the  confirmation  of  falsity 
is  a  denial  of  truth,  and  the  confirmation  of  evil  is 
a  rejection  of  good ;  and  the  Word  in  its  bosom  is 
nothing  but  Divine  truth  and  Divine  good ;  but  in 
the  outmost  sense,  which  is  the  sense  of  the  letter, 
this  is  not  expressed  in  genuine  truths  (except  where 
it  teaches  about  the  Lord  and  the  way  of  salva- 
tion itself),  but  in  truths  clothed,  which  are  called 
appearances  of  truth  ;  and  therefore  that  sense  may 
be  diverted  to  uphold  many  kinds  of  heresies. 
But  he  that  upholds  evil  loves  does  violence  to 
Divine  goods ;  and  he  that  upholds  false  princi- 
ples does  violence  to  Divine  truths.  This  violence 
is  called  falsification  of  truth,  the  other  is  called 
adulteration  of  good.  Both  are  meant  in  the  Word 
by  "bloods."  For  a  spiritual  holiness,  which  is 
also  called  the  spirit  of  truth  going  forth  from  the 
Lord,  is  within  each  of  the  particulars  of  the  sense 
of  the  letter  of  the  Word.  This  holiness  is  injured 
when  the  Word  is  falsified  and  adulterated.  Evi- 
dently, then,  this  is  profanation. 

A  fourth  kind  of  profanation  is  committed  by 


CHAPTER   XII.,  N.  2}  I  303 

those  who  say  with  the  lips  pious  and  holy  things, 
and  counterfeit- the  affections  of  love  for  these  in 
tone  and  in  gesture,  and  yet  in  heart  do  not  believe 
them  or  love  them.  Most  of  such  are  hypocrites 
and  Pharisees,  from  whom  after  death  all  truth  and 
good  are  taken  away,  and  they  are  then  sent  into 
outer  darkness.  Those  who  have  confirmed,  them- 
selves by  this  kind  of  profanation  against  the  Di- 
vine and  against  the  Word,  and  consequently 
against  the  spiritual  things  of  the  Word,  sit  in  that 
darkness  dumb,  powerless  to  speak,  wishing  to 
babble  pious  and  holy  things  as  they  did  in  the 
world,  but  unable  to  do  so.  For  in  the  spiritual 
world  every  one  is  compelled  to  speak  as  he  thinks ; 
while  a  hypocrite  wishes  to  speak  otherwise  than 
as  he  thinks,  from  which  there  exists  an  "opposition 
in  the  mouth,  owing  to  which  they  can  only  mut- 
ter. But  the  hypocrisy  is  lighter  or  more  grievous 
in  the  measure  of  the  confirmations  against  God 
and  the  outward  reasonings  in  favor  of  God. 

The  fifth  kind  of  profanation  is  committed  by 
those  who  attribute  to  themselves  what  is  Divine. 
Such  are  meant  by  "Lucifer"  in  the  fourteenth 
chapter  of  Isaiah.  "  Lucifer"  there  means  Babylon, 
as  is  evident  from  the  fourth  and  twenty-second 
verses  of  the  same  chapter,  where,  too,  the  lot  of 
such  is  described.  The  same  are  meant  and  de- 
scribed also  in  the  seventeenth  chapter  of  the  Apoc- 
alypse by  "the  harlot  sitting  on  the  scarlet-colored 
beast."  Babylon  and  Chaldea  are  mentioned  in 
many  places  in  the  Word,  "Babylon"  meaning  the 


304  THE  DIVINE   'PROVIDENCE 

profanation  of  good,  and  "Chaldea"  the  profana- 
tion of  truth  ;  both  of  these  in  such  as  attribute  to 
themselves  what  is  Divine. 

The  sixth  kind  of  profanation  is  committed  by 
those  who  acknowledge  the  Word  a?id  yet  deny  the 
Divinity  of  the  Lord.  In  the  world  these  are  called 
Socinians,  and  some  of  them  Arians.  The  final 
condition  of  all  such  is  that  they  call,  not  upon  the 
Lord,  but  upon  the  Father ;  and  continually  pray  to 
the  Father,  some,  indeed,  for  the  sake  of  the  Son, 
to  be  admitted  into  heaven,  but  without  effecl:,  until 
at  last  they  lose  all  hope  of  salvation ;  and  they 
are  then  let  down  into  hell  among  those  who  deny 
God.  Such  are  meant  by  those 

Who  blaspheme  the  Holy  Spirit,  for  whom  there  will  be 
no  forgiveness  in  this  world  nor  in  the  world  to  come 
(Matt.  xii.  32). 

This  is  because  God  is  one  in  person  and  in  es- 
sence, in  whom  is  the  trinity,  and  this  God  is  the 
Lord ;  and  since  the  Lord  is  heaven,  and  conse- 
quently those  who  are  in  heaven  are  in  the  Lord, 
it  follows  that  those  who  deny  the  Divinity  of  the 
Lord  cannot  be  admitted  into  heaven  and  be  in  the 
Lord.  That  the  Lord  is  heaven,  and  consequently 
those  who  are  in  heaven  are  in  the  Lord,  has  been 
shown  above. 

The  seventh  kind  of  profanation  is  committed 
by  those  who  first  acknowledge  Divine  truths  and 
live  according  to  them,  but  afterwards  recede  and 
deny  them.  This  is  the  worst  kind  of  profana- 


CHAPTER   XII. ,  N.  2}  I  305 

tion  ;  for  such  mix  together  things  holy  and  things 
profane,  even  to  the  extent  that  they  cannot  be 
separated ;  nevertheless  they  must  be  separated 
that  men  may  be  either  in  heaven  or  in  hell ; 
and  since  with  such  this  cannot  be  done,  all  that 
is  human,  both  intellectual  and  voluntary,  is  rooted 
out,  and,  as  has  been  said  before,  they  come  to 
be  no  longer  men.  Nearly  the  same  is  true  of 
those  who  in  heart  acknowledge  the  Divine  things 
of  the  Word  and  of  the  church,  but  immerse  them 
wholly  in  what  is  their  own  (proprium},  which  is  the 
love  of  ruling  over  all  things ;  of  which  much  has 
been  said  already.  For  such,  when  after  death  they 
become  spirits,  are  wholly  unwilling  to  be  led  by 
the  Lord,  but  wish  to  be  led  by  themselves ;  and 
when  loose  rein  is  given  to  their  love  they  wish  to 
rule  not  only  over  heaven  but  also  over  the  Lord ; 
and  as  they  cannot  do  this  they  deny  the  Lord  and 
become  devils.  It  must  be  understood  that  the 
life's  love  of  every  one,  which  is  the  ruling  love, 
continues  after  death,  and  cannot  be  taken  away. 

The  profane  of  this  sort  are  meant  by  the  "luke- 
warm," who  are  thus  described  in  the  Apocalypse : 

"  I  know  thy  works,  that  thou  art  neither  cold  nor  hot ; 
would  thou  wert  cold  or  hot.  But  because  thou  art 
lukewarm,  and  neither  cold  nor  hot,  I  will  spew  thee 
out  of  My  mouth"  (iii.  15,  16). 

This  kind  of  profanation  is  thus  described  by  the 
Lord  in  Matthew: 

"  When  the  unclean  spirit  goeth  out  of  a  man  he  walk- 
eth  through  dry  places,  seeking  rest  and  finding  if 


306  THE   <D/K/NE   TROYIDENCE 

not.  Then  he  saith,  I  will  return  to  the  house  whence 
I  went  forth.  When  he  cometh  he  findeth  it  empty 
and  swept  and  adorned  for  him.  Then  he  goeth  away 
and  taketh  to  himself  seven  other  spirits  worse  than 
himself,  and  entering  in  they  dwell  there  ;  and  the 
latter  things  of  that  man  become  worse  than  the  first" 
(xii.  43-45). 

Man's  conversion  is  here  described  by  "  the  unclean 
spirit's  going  out  of  him  ;"  and  his  turning  back  to 
former  evils  when  goods  and  truths  have  been  cast 
out  is  described  by  (  '  the  return  of  the  unclean 
spirit  with  seven  others  worse  than  himself  into  the 
house  adorned  for  him  ;"  and  the  profanation  of 
what  is  holy  by  a  profane  person  is  described  by 
'  '  the  last  things  with  that  man  becoming  worse  than 
the  first.  '  '  The  same  is  meant  by  this  in  John  : 

Jesus  said  to  the  man  who  had  been  healed  at  the  pool 
of  Bethesda,  "Sin  no  more,  lest  a  worse  thing  befall 
thee"  (v.  14). 

The  Lord's  providing  against  man's  acknow- 
ledging truths  interiorly  and  afterwards  receding  and 
becoming  profane  is  meant  by  these  words  : 

"  He  hath  blinded  their  eyes  and  hardened  their  heart, 
lest  they  should  see  with  their  eyes  and  understand 
with  their  heart,  and  turn,  and  I  should  heal  them  " 
xii.  40). 


<  '  Lest  they  should  turn  and  I  should  heal  them  '  ' 
signifies  lest  they  should  acknowledge  truths  and 
then  recede,  and  thus  become  profane.  For  the 
same  reason  the  Lord  spoke  in  parables  as  He  Him- 
self declares  (Matt.  xiii.  13).  The  Jews  being  for- 
bidden to  eat  fat  or  blood  (^Lev.  iii.  17  ;  vii.  23,  25), 


CHAPTER   XI I.,  N.  2}2  307 

signified  that  they  should  not  profane  what  is  holy  ; 
since  ' '  fat  "  signified  Divine  good,  and  ' '  blood  ' ' 
Divine  truth.  That  he  who  is  once  converted  must 
continue  in  good  and  truth  to  the  end  of  his  life, 
the  Lord  teaches  in  Matthew  : 

Jesus  said,  "  He  that  endureth  to  the  end  shall  be  saved  " 
(x.  22;  also  Mark  xiii.  13). 

232.  (iv. )  Therefore  the  Lord  admits  man  in- 
teriorly into  the  truths  of  wisdom  and  at  the  same 
time  into  the  goods  of  love  only  so  far  as  he  can  be 
kept  in  them  even  to  the  end  of  his  life. — The  de- 
monstration of  this  must  proceed  by  distinct  steps, 
for  two  reasons  ;  first,  because  it  concerns  human 
salvation  ;  and  secondly,  because  a  knowledge  of  the 
laws  of  permission  depends  upon  a  knowledge  of 
this  law,  which  will  be  considered  in  the  next  chap- 
ter. .  It  concerns  human  salvation,  since,  as  has  just 
been  said,  he  that  acknowledges  the  Divine  things 
of  the  Word,  and  thus  of  the  church,  and  after- 
wards recedes  from  them,  profanes  holy  things  most 
grievously.  Therefore  to  so  unfold  this  arcanum  of 
the  Divine  providence  that  the  rational  man  may 
see  it  in  his  light,  it  must  be  set  forth  in  the  follow- 
ing order  :  ( i . )  Good  and  evil  cannot  be  in  man' s 
interiors  together,  neither,  therefore,  the  falsity  of 
evil  and  the  truth  of  good  together.  (2.)  Good 
and  the  truth  of  good  can  be  brought  into  man's 
interiors  by  the  Lord  only  so  far  as  evil  and  the 
falsity  of  evil  there  have  been  removed.  (3.)  If 
good  with  its  truth  were  to  be  brought  in  before  or 


308  THE  TJlWNE  TROWDENCE 

to  a  greater  extent  than  evil  with  its  falsity  is  re- 
moved, man  would  recede  from  good  and  return  to 
his  evil.  (4.)  When  man  is  in  evil  many  truths 
may  be  brought  into  his  understanding,  and  these 
may  be  stored  up  in  his  memory,  and  yet  not  be 
profaned.  (5.)  But  the  Lord  by  His  Divine  pro- 
vidence takes  especial  care  that  the  will  shall  re- 
ceive from  the  understanding  only  so  fast  as,  and 
to  the  extent  that,  man  as  if  of  himself  removes 
evils  in  the  external  man.  (6.)  If  it  should  receive 
faster  or  more,  the  will  would  adulterate  good  and 
the  understanding  would  falsify  truth  by  mixing 
them  with  evils  and  with  falsities.  (7.)  Therefore 
the  Lord  admits  man  interiorly  into  the  truths  of 
wisdom  and  into  the  goods  of  love  only  so  far  as 
he  can  be  kept  in  them  to  the  end  of  his  life. 

233.  Therefore,  to  so  unfold  this  arcanum  ol 
the  Divine  providence  that  a  rational  man  may  see 
it  in  his  light,  the  points  that  have  now  been  pre- 
sented must  be  explained  one  by  one.  First :  Good 
and  evil  cannot  be  in  man's  interiors  together, 
neither,  therefore,  the  falsity  of  evil  and  the  truth 
of  good  together.  The  interiors  of  man  mean  the 
ipternal  of  his  thought,  of  which  he  knows  nothing 
until  he  comes  into  the  spiritual  world  and  its  light, 
which  he  does  after  death.  In  the  natural  world 
this  can  be  known  only  from  the  delight  of  his 
love  in  the  external  of  his  thought,  and  from  evils 
themselves  wrhile  he  is  examining  them  in  himself; 
for,  as  has  been  shown  above,  the  internal  of  thought 
in  man  is  bound  to  the  external  of  thought  by  such 


CHAPTER  XII.,  N.  2JJ  309 

a  bond  that  they  cannot  be  separated.  But  of  this 
more  will  be  said.  The  terms  good  and  truth  of 
good,  also  evil  and  falsity  of  evil  are  used  because 
good  cannot  exist  apart  from  its  truth,  nor  evil 
apart  from  its  falsity ;  for  they  are  bedfellows  or 
consorts  ;  for  the  life  of  good  is  from  its  truth,  and 
the  life  of  truth  is  from  its  good.  The  same  is 
true  of  evil  and  its  falsity. 

That  evil  with  its  falsity  and  good  with  its  truth 
cannot  be  in  man's  interiors  together  the  rational 
man  can  see  without  explanation ;  for  evil  is  the 
opposite  of  good,  and  good  is  the  opposite  of  evil, 
and  two  opposites  cannot  exist  together.  More- 
over, there  is  inherent  in  all  evil  a  hatred  of  good, 
and  there  is  inherent  in  all  good  a  love  of  protect- 
ing itself  against  evil  and  of  separating  it  from 
itself;  from  which  it  follows  that  one  cannot  be 
together  with  the  other ;  and  if  they  were  together 
there  would  arise  first  a  conflict  and  combat,  and 
then  destruction ;  as  the  Lord  also  teaches  in  these 
words : 

"  Every  kingdom  divided  against  itself  is  brought  to  des- 
olation ;  and  every  city  or  house  divided  against  itself 

standeth  not He  that  is  not  with  Me  is  against 

Me;    and  he  that  gathereth  not  with  Me  scattereth" 
(Matt.  xii.  25,  30). 

And  again, 

"  No  one  can  serve  two  masters  at  the  same  time  ;  for 
either  he  will  hate  the  one  and  love  the  other,  or  he 
will  hold  to  the  one  and  despise  the  other"  (Matt. 

vi.  24). 


?IO  T//E  ^lYINE  VROWDENCE 

Two  opposites  cannot  exist  together  in  one  sub- 
stance or  form  without  its  being  torn  asunder  and 
destroyed.  If  one  should  approach  and  come  near 
to  the  other  they  would  surely  separate  like  two 
enemies,  one  keeping  himself  within  his  camp  or 
his  fortifications,  and  the  other  keeping  outside  of 
them.  This  is  true  of  the  evil  and  of  the  good  in 
a  hypocrite  ;  he  is  in  both,  but  the  evil  is  within 
and  the  good  is  without,  and  thus  the  two  are  sep- 
arated and  are  not  mixed  together.  From  all  this 
it  is  clear  that  evil  with  its  falsity  and  good  with  its 
truth  cannot  exist  together. 

Secondly :  Good  and  the  truth  of  good  can  be 
brought  into  a  man's  interiors  by  the  Lord  only  so 
far  as  evil  and  the  falsity  of  evil  there  have  been 
removed.  This  is  a  necessary  consequence  of  the 
foregoing  ;  since,  if  evil  and  good  cannot  exist  to^ 
gether  good  cannot  be  brought  in  until  evil  has 
been  removed.  The  term  man's  interiors  is  used, 
meaning  the  internal  of  thought,  which  will  now  be 
considered.  Either  the  Lord  or  the  devil  must  be 
in  these  interiors.  The  Lord  is  there  after  reform- 
ation, but  the  devil  is  there  before  it ;  consequently 
so  far  as  man  suffers  himself  to  be  reformed  the 
devil  is  cast  out ;  but  so  far  as  he  does  not  suffer 
himself  to  be  reformed  the  devil  remains.  Who 
cannot  see  that  it  is  impossible  for  the  Lord  to 
enter  so  long  as  the  devil  is  there?  And  he  is 
there  so  long  as  man  keeps  the  door  closed,  which 
is  where  man  and  the  Lord  act  together.  That  the 
Lord  enters  when  that  door  is  opened  by  man's 


CHAPTER   XII.,  N.  2jj  311 

instrumentality  He  teaches  in  the  Apocalypse: 

"  I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock ;  if  any  one  hear  My 
voice  and  open  the  door,  I  will  come  in  to  him  and 
will  sup  with  him  and  he  with  Me  "  (iii.  20). 

The  door  is  opened  by  man's  removing  evil  by 
shunning  and  turning  away  from  it  as  infernal  and 
diabolical ;  for  whether  you  say  evil  or  the  devil  it 
is  the  same  ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  whether  you 
say  good  or  the  Lord  it  is  the  same ;  for  the  Lord 
is  within  all  good,  and  the  devil  is  within  all  evil. 
This  makes  clear  the  truth  of  the  matter. 

Thirdly  :  If  good  with  its  truth  were  to  be  brought 
in  before  or  to  a  greater  extent  than  evil  with  its 
falsity  is  removed,  man  would  recede  from  good 
and  return  to  his  evil.  And  for  this  reason,  that 
evil  would  be  the  stronger,  and  the  stronger  con- 
quers, iLnot  at  the  time  then  afterwards.  So  long 
as  evil  is  the  stronger,  good  cannot  be  brought 
into  the  inmost  apartments  but  only  into  the  en- 
trance hall ;  because  evil  and  good,  as  has  been 
said,  cannot  exist  together,  and  what  is  only  in  the 
entrance  hall  is  removed  by  the  enemy  that  is  in 
the  inner  rooms ;  and  in  consequence  there  is  a 
receding  from  good  and  a  return  to  evil,  which  is 
the  worst  kind  of  profanation. 

Furthermore,  the  essential  delight  of  man's  life 
is  to  love  himself  and  the  world  above  all  things. 
This  delight  cannot  be  removed  instantly,  but  only 
gradually ;  and  so  much  as  there  is  of  this  delight 
remaining  in  man  so  far  evil  prevails  in  him.  And 


312  THE  'DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

there  is  no  way  in  which  this  evil  can  be  removed 
except  that  the  love  of  self  become  a  love  of  uses, 
or  the  love  of  rule  come  to  have  uses  as  its  end  and 
not  self;  for  then  uses  constitute  the  head,  and  the 
love  of  self  or  love  of  ruling  constitutes  first  the 
body  beneath  the  head,  and  then  the  feet  on  which 
it  walks.  Who  does  not  see  that  good  must  con- 
stitute the  head,  and  that  when  it  does  the  Lord 
is  there?  Good  and  use  are  one.  Who  does  not 
see  that  if  evil  constitutes  the  head  the  devil  is 
there?  And  as  civil  and  moral  good,  and  spiritual 
good  also  in  external  form,  must  be  accepted,  who 
does  not  see  that  this  then  constitutes  the  feet  and 
the  soles  of  the  feet,  to  be  walked  upon  ? 

Since,  then,  the  state  of  man's  life  must  be  re- 
versed, so  that  what  is  above  shall  be  below,  and 
this  reversal  cannot  be  effected  instantly,  for  the 
greatest  delight  of  life,  which  is  from  love  of  self 
and  consequent  love  of  dominion,  can  only  gradu- 
ally be  weakened  and  turned  into  a  love  of  uses, 
therefore  good  can  be  brought  in  by  the  Lord  no 
faster  or  to  a  greater  extent  than  this  evil  is  re- 
moved ;  and  if  it  were  man  would  recede  from 
good  and  return  to  his  evil. 

Fourthly :  When  man  is  in  evil  many  truths 
may  be  brought  into  his  understanding,  and  these 
may  be  stored  up  in  the  memory,  and  yet  not  be  pro- 
faned. This  is  because  the  understanding  does  not 
flow  into  the  will,  but  the  will  flows  into  the  under- 
standing ;  and  as  the  understanding  does  not  flow 
into  the  will  many  truths  may  be  received  by  it 


CHAPTER   XII.,  N    2JJ  313 

and  stored  up  in  the  memory,  and  not  be  mixed 
with  the  evil  of  the  will,  consequently  holy  things 
will  not  be  profaned.  Moreover,  it  is  incumbent 
upon  every  one  to  learn  truths  from  the  Word  or 
from  preaching,  to  lay  them  up  in  the  memory 
and  to  think  about  them.  For  from  the  truths 
that  are  in  the  memory,  and  that  come  from  it  into 
the  thought  the  understanding  must  teach  the  will, 
that  is,  must  teach  the  man  what  to  do.  Therefore 
this  is  the  chief  means  of  reformation.  When  truths 
are  in  the  understanding  only,  and  from  it  in  the 
memory,  they  are  not  in  the  man,  but  outside  of 
him. 

Man's  memory  may  be  compared  to  the  rumin- 
ating stomach  of  certain  animals,  into  which  they 
first  receive  their  food ;  and  so  long  as  it  is  there 
it  is  hot  within  but  without  the  body ;  but  when 
they  draw  the  food  out  of  the  stomach  and  eat  it 
it  becomes  a  part  of  their  life,  and  the  body  is 
nourished.  Man's  memory  contains  spiritual  not 
material  foods,  that  is,  truths,  which  in  themselves 
are  knowledges.  So  far  as  a  man  by  thinking,  or 
as  it  were  by  ruminating,  draws  these  from  the 
memory,  his  spiritual  mind  is  nourished.  The  will's 
love  is  what  longs  and  as  it  were  has  an  appetite 
for  these,  and  causes  them  to  be  imbibed  and  to 
furnish  nourishment.  If  that  love  is  evil  it  longs 
for  and  as  it  were  has  an  appetite  for  things  un- 
clean ;  but  if  good  it  longs  for  and  has  an  appe- 
tite for  things  that  are  clean ;  and  what  is  not  suit- 


314  Tnd  'DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

able  it  separates,  dismisses,  and  casts  forth,  which 
is  done  in  various  ways. 

Fifthly  :  But  the  Lord  by  His  Divine  providence 
takes  especial  care  that  the  will  shall  receive  from 
the  understanding  only  so  fast  as,  and  to  the  extent 
that,  man  as  if  of  himself  removes  evils  in  the 
external  man.  ^For  what  is  received  by  the  will 
comes  into  the  man  and  is  appropriated  to  him 
and  comes  to  be  of  his  life;  and  in  the  life  itself, 
which  man  has  from  the  will,  evil  and  good  cannot 
be  together,  if  they  were  he  would  perish  ;  but  the 
two  can  be  in  the  understanding,  where  they  are 
called  falsities  of  evil  and  truths  of  good ;  yet  they 
are  not  together,  if  they  were  man  would  be  un- 
able from  good  to  see  evil  or  from  evil  to  know 
good ;  but  they  are  there  distinguished  and  separ- 
ated, like  a  house  into  inner  and  outer  parts. 
When  an  evil  man  thinks  and  talks  about  good 
things  he  thinks  and  speaks  exteriorly,  but  interi- 
orly when  he  thinks  and  speaks  about  evil  things ; 
therefore  when  he  says  good  things  his  speech 
comes  as  it  were  from  the  outer  wall  of  the  house. 
It  may  be  likened  to  fruit  fair  on  the  surface,  but 
wormy  and  rotten  within ;  or  to  the  shell  of  a 
dragon's  egg. 

Sixthly  :  If  it  should  receive  faster  or  more,  the 
will  would  adulterate  good  and  the  understanding 
would  falsify  truth  by  mixing  them  with  evils  ana 
with  falsities  therefrom.  When  the  will  is  in  evil 
it  adulterates  good  in  the  understanding ;  and  good 
adulterated  in  the  understanding  is  evil  in  the  will, 


CHAPTER   XII.,  N.  2jj  315 

for  it  proves  that  evil  is  good,  and  that  good  is 
evil ;  evil  does  this  with  all  good  which  is  oppos- 
ite to  itself.  Evil  also  falsifies  truth,  for  the  truth 
of  good  is  opposite  to  falsity  of  evil ;  and  this  is 
done  by  the  will  in  the  understanding,  and  not  by 
the  understanding  from  itself.  In  the  Word  adul- 
terations of  good  are  depicted  by  adulteries  and 
falsifications  of  truth  by  whoredoms.  These  adul- 
terations and  falsifications  are  effected  by  reason- 
ings from  the  natural  man,  which  is  in  evil,  also 
by  proofs  drawn  from  the  appearances  of  the  sense 
of  the  letter  of  the  Word. 

The  love  of  self,  which  is  the  head  of  all  evils, 
surpasses  all  other  loves  in  its  ability  to  adulterate 
goods  and  falsify  truths ;  and  it  does  this  by  a  mis- 
use of  the  rationality  that  every  man,  both  the  evil 
man  and  the  good  man,  has  from  the  Lord.  By 
its  proofs  it  can  even  make  evil  to  appear  wholly 
like  good,  and  falsity  like  truth.  What  can  it  not 
do  when  it  can  prove  by  a  thousand  arguments  that 
nature  created  itself,  and  that  it  then  created  men, 
beasts,  and  plants  of  all  kinds ;  also  that  by  influx 
from  its  inner  self  nature  causes  men  to  live,  to 
think  analytically,  and  to  understand  wisely  ?  Self- 
love  excels  in  its  ability  to  prove  whatever  it  will 
because  its  outer  surface  is  a  kind  of  splendor  of 
light  variegated  in  different  colors.  This  splendor 
is  the  glory  of  being  wise  that  pertains  to  that  love, 
and  also  thereby  of  being  eminent  and  dominant. 

But  when  it  has  established  these  principles  this 
love  becomes  so  blind  as  not  to  see  but  that  man 


316  THE  ^IISINE  TROWDENCE 


is  a  beast,  and  that  man  and  beast  think  in  the 
same  way,  and  even  that  if  a  beast  could  speak 
it  would  be  a  man  in  another  form.  If  it  can  be 
led  by  any  persuasion  to  believe  that  something  of 
man  lives  after  death,  it  is  then  so  blind  as  to  believe 
that  the  same  is  true  of  the  beast  ;  and  that  this 
something  that  lives  after  death  is  only  a  subtle 
exhalation  of  life,  like  a  vapor,  which  still  settles 
back  to  its  corpse  ;  or  that  it  is  something  vital 
without  sight,  hearing,  or  speech,  thus  is  blind,  deaf, 
and  dumb,  floating  about  and  thinking  ;  besides 
other  insanities,  with  which  nature  itself,  which  in 
itself  is  dead,  inspires  the  fancy.  This  the  love 
of  self  does,  which  viewed  in  itself  is  the  love  of 
one's  own  (proprium}  ;  and  man's  own  in  respect  to 
its  affections,  which  are  all  natural,  is  not  unlike 
the  life  of  a  beast  ;  while  in  respect  to  its  percep- 
tions, because  they  are  from  these  affections,  it  is 
not  unlike  a  bird  of  night.  Consequently  whoever 
continually  immerses  his  thoughts  in  what  is  his 
own  cannot  be  raised  out  of  natural  into  spiritual 
light  and  see  anything  of  God,  of  heaven,  and  of 
the  eternal  life.  Because  this  love  is  such,  and 
nevertheless  excels  in  its  ability  to  confirm  what- 
ever it  pleases,  it  has  a  like  ability  to  adulterate 
the  goods  of  the  Word,  and  to  falsify  its  truths, 
while  from  a  kind  of  necessity  it  is  kept  in  a  confes- 
sion of  them. 

Seventhly  :  Therefore  the  Lord  admits  man  in- 
teriorly into  the  truths  of  wisdom  and  into  the  goods 
of  love  only  so  far  as  he  can  be  kept  in  them  to  the 


CHAPTER  XII. ,  N.  2jj  317 

end  of  his  life.  This  the  Lord  does  that  man  may 
not  fall  into  that  most  grievous  kind  of  profana- 
ation  of  what  is  holy  which  has  been  treated  of  in 
this  chapter.  It  is  because  of  this  danger  that  the 
Lord  permits  evils  of  life  and  many  heresies  in 
worship.  Of  the  permissions  of  these  something 
tfill  be  seen  in  the  sections  following. 


XIII. 


THE  LAWS  OF  PERMISSION  ARE  ALSO  LAWS  OF  THE  DIVINE 
PROVIDENCE. 

234- 

r  I  ""HERE  are  no  laws  of  permission  by  themselves 
JL  or  apart  from  the  laws  of  the  Divine  provid- 
ence, but  the  two  are  the  same ;  when,  there- 
fore, God  is  said  to  permit  it  is  not  meant  that  He 
wills,  but  that  on  account  of  the  end,  which  is  salva- 
tion, He  cannot  avert.  Whatever  is  done  for  the 
sake  of  the  end,  which  is  salvation,  is  according  to 
the  laws  of  the  Divine  providence.  For  the  Divine 
providence,  as  has  been  said  before,  is  constantly 
moving  in  a  way  diverse  from  and  contrary  to  man's 
will,  continually  intent  upon  its  end ;  and  in  con- 
sequence, at  every  instant  of  its  operation  or  at 
every  step  of  its  progress,  where  it  observes  man 
to  be  swerving  from  that  end,  it  guides,  bends,  and 
directs  him  according  to  its  laws,  by  leading  him 
away  from  evil  and  leading  him  to  good.  That 
this  cannot  be  done  without  the  permission  of  evil 
will  be  seen  in  what  follows.  Moreover,  nothing  can 
be  permitted  without  a  reason,  and  the  reason  can  be 
found  only  in  some  law  of  the  Divine  providence, 
which  law  teaches  why  it  is  permitted. 

235»   One  who  does  not  acknowledge  the  Di- 
vine providence  at  all  does  not  in  his  heart  acknow- 


CHAPTER   XII L,  N.  2)6  319 

ledge  God,  but  acknowledges  nature  in  place  of 
God,  and  human  prudence  in  place  of  the  Divine 
providence.  This  does  not  appear  to  be  true,  be- 
cause man  can  think  in  one  way  or  another,  and 
can  talk  in  one  way  or  another.  From  his  inner 
self  he  is  able  to  think  and  talk  in  one  way,  and 
from  his  outer  self  in  another  way.  He  is  like  a 
hinge  that  can  let  the  door  turn  either  way,  one 
way  when  one  is  entering,  and  the  other  when  go- 
ing out ;  or  like  a  sail  by  which  a  vessel  can  be 
turned  either  way  in  its  course,  as  the  master  sets 
it.  Those  that  have  confirmed  themselves  in  favor 
of  human  prudence  to  such  an  extent  as  to  deny  the 
Divine  providence,  so  long  as  they  are  in  that 
thought  of  theirs,  give  heed  to  nothing  else,  what- 
ever they  may  be  seeing,  hearing,  or  reading ;  nor 
are  they  able  to  do  so,  because  they  receive  nothing 
from  heaven,  but  only  from  themselves.  And  be- 
cause they  draw  conclusions  from  appearances  and 
fallacies  only,  and  see  nothing  else,  they  can  swear 
that  it  is  so.  Moreover,  if  they  acknowledge  nature 
alone  they  may  be  angry  with  the  defenders  of  Di- 
vine providence ;  provided  they  are  not  priests,  for 
they  regard  this  as  a  matter  belonging  to  the  teach- 
ing or  function  of  the  priesthood. 

236.  We  will  now  enumerate  some  things  that 
belong  to  permission  and  yet  are  in  accord  with 
the  laws  of  Divine  providence,  by  which  a  merely 
natural  man  confirms  himself  in  favor  of  nature 
against  God,  and  in  favor  of  human  prudence  against 
Divine  providence.  For  example  :  When  he  reads 


520  THE  TUWNE  TROWDENCE 

in  the  Word  that  the  wisest  of  mankind,  Adam  and 
his  wife,  suffered  themselves  to  be  seduced  by  a  ser- 
pent, and  that  God  did  not  avert  this  by  his  Di- 
vine providence ;  that  their  first  son  Cain  killed 
his  brother  Abel,  and  that  God  did  not  withhold 
him  at  the  time  by  speaking  with  him,  but  only 
after  the  deed,  by  cursing  him  ;  that  the  Israelitish 
nation  worshipped  a  golden  calf  in  the  desert,  and 
acknowledged  it  as  God  who  led  them  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt,  and  yet  Jehovah  saw  this  from  Mount 
Sinai  near  by  and  did  not  seek  to  prevent  it ;  also 
that  David  numbered  the  people,  and  in  conse- 
quence a  plague  was  sent  upon  them,  by  which 
so  many  thousands  of  men  perished,  and  that  God, 
not  before  but  after  the  deed,  sent  Gad  the  pro- 
phet to  David  and  denounced  punishment ;  that 
Solomon  was  permitted  to  establish  idolatrous  wor- 
ship, and  many  kings  after  him  were  permitted  to 
profane  the  temple  and  the  holy  things  of  the 
church ;  and  finally,  that  that  nation  wras  permitted 
to  crucify  the  Lord.  In  these  and  many  other 
things  in  the  Word  one  who  acknowledges  nature 
and  human  prudence  sees  nothing  but  what  is  con- 
trary to  Divine  providence ;  therefore  he  can  use 
these  things  as  arguments  for  rejecting  it,  if  not  in 
his  outer  thought  which  is  nearest  to  speech,  still  in 
that  inner  thought  which  is  remote  from  it. 

237.  Every  worshipper  of  himself  and  of  na- 
ture confirms  himself  against  the  Divine  providence 
when  he  sees  in  the  world  so  many  impious  people, 
and  so  many  of  their  impieties,  and  at  the  same 


CHAPTER  XIII.,  N.  2j8  321 

time  the  glorying  of  some  in  these  impieties,  and 
yet  no  punishment  of  such  by  God  on  this  account. 
And  he  confirms  himself  against  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence still  further  when  he  sees  that  plots,  de- 
vices, and  frauds  are  successful  even  against  the 
pious,  just,  and  sincere ;  and  that  injustice  triumphs 
over  justice  in  the  courts  and  in  business.  Espe- 
cially does  he  confirm  himself  in  this  when  he  sees 
the  impious  exalted  to  honors  and  to  high  offices 
in  church  and  state,  also  abounding  in  wealth,  and 
living  in  luxury  and  magnificence ;  while  on  the 
other  hand  he  sees  the  worshippers  of  God  despised 
and  poor.  He  also  confirms  himself  against  Divine 
providence  when  he  reflects  that  wars  are  permitted, 
and  the  consequent  slaughter  of  so  many  men,  and 
the  plundering  of  so  many  cities,  nations,  and  fami- 
lies ;  also  that  victories  are  on  the  side  of  prud- 
ence, and  sometimes  not  on  the  side  of  justice;  and 
that  it  makes  no  difference  whether  the  commander 
is  an  upright  man  or  not ;  besides  other  things  like 
these ;  all  of  which  are  permissions  according  to 
the  laws  of  the  Divine  providence. 

238.  The  same  natural  man  confirms  himself 
against  Divine  providence  when  he  considers  the 
religious  conditions  of  various  peoples ;  as  that 
there  are  some  who  are  totally  ignorant  of  God ; 
some  who  worship  the  sun  and  moon  ;  some  also 
who  worship  monstrous  idols,  graven  images,  and 
even  dead  men  ;  still  further  when  he  sees  the  Mo- 
hammedan religion  accepted  by  so  many  empires 
and  kingdoms,  and  the  Christian  religion  only  in 


?22  THE  THYME  TROl/IDENCE 

Europe,  the  smallest  division  of  the  habitable  globe, 
and  there  it  is  divided ;  and  that  there  are  some 
in  it  who  claim  for  themselves  a  Divine  power,  and 
wish  to  be  worshipped  as  gods,  and  invoke  the 
dead  ;  also  that  there  are  some  who  place  salvation 
in  certain  phrases  which  they  must  think  and  talk 
about,  making  no  account  of  the  good  works  they 
must  do  ;  also  that  there  are  few  who  live  their 
religion  ;  besides  the  heresies,  of  which  there  have 
been  many,  some  of  which  exist  at  this  day,  as 
those  of  the  Quakers,  the  Moravians,  the  Anabap- 
tists, and  others  ;  also  that  Judaism  still  continues. 
From  these  things  he  who  denies  Divine  provid- 
ence concludes  that  religion  in  itself  is  nothing, 
but  is  necessary  because  it  serves  as  a  restraint. 

239*  To  these  arguments  others  can  be  added 
at  this  day  by  which  those  who  think  interiorly  in 
favor  of  nature  and  human  prudence  alone  may 
still  further  confirm  themselves ;  as  that  the  whole 
Christian  world  has  acknowledged  three  Gods,  not 
knowing  that  God  is  one  in  person  and  in  essence, 
and  that  the  Lord  is  the  one  God ;  also  that  it  has 
not  hitherto  been  known  that  in  every  particular  of 
the  Word  there  is  a  spiritual  sense,  and  that  its 
holiness  is  from  this;  also  that  it  has  not  been 
known  that  to  shun  evils  as  sins  is  the  Christian 
religion  itself;  and  that  it  has  not  been  known 
that  man  lives  a  man  after  death.  For  men  can 
say  to  themselves  and  to  one  another,  Why  does 
the  Divine  providence,  if  there  is  any,  now  first  re- 
veal such  things? 


CHAPTER   XIII.,  N.  241  323 

240.  All  the  things  that  have  been  mentioned 
in  sections  236,  237,  238,  and  239,  have  been  pre- 
sented to  the  end  that  it  may  be  seen   that  each 
and  all  things  that  take  place  in  the  world,  both 
with  the  evil  and  with  the  good,  belong  to  the  Di- 
vine providence ;  consequently  that  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence   is    in    the    smallest    particulars    of  man's 
thoughts  and  actions,  and    therefore   is    universal. 
But  as  this  cannot  be  seen  from  the   things  pre- 
sented unless  each  one  is  explained  by  itself  they 
shall  be  Briefly  explained  in  the  order  in  which  they 
were  presented,  beginning  with  section  236. 

241.  (i.)    The  wisest  of  mankind,  Adam   and 
his  wife,  suffered  themselves  to  be  seduced  by  a  ser- 
pent, and  God  did  not  avert  this  by  His  Divine  pro- 
vidence.— This   is   so,  inasmuch   as  by  Adam  and 
his  wife  the  first  men  that  were  created  on  this  earth 
are  not  meant,  but  the  men  of  the  Most  Ancient 
Church ;  and  their  new  creation  or  their  regenera- 
tion is  thus  described.     Their  new  creation  itself, 
that  is,  their  regeneration,  is  described  in  the  first 
chapter  of  Genesis  by  the  creation  of  heaven  and 
earth  ;  their  wisdom  and  intelligence  by  the  garden 
of  Eden;  and  the  end  of  that  church  by  their  eat- 
ing from  the  tree  of  knowledge.     For  the  Word  in 
its  bosom  is  spiritual,  containing  arcana  of  Divine 
wisdom ;  and  that  it  may  contain  these  it  is  written 
throughout  wholly  by  correspondences   and  repre- 
sentatives.    This  makes  clear  that  the  men  of  that 
church,  who  were  in  the  beginning  the  wisest  of 


524  THE  VI^INE  TROWDENCE 

men,  but  in  the  end,  from  the  conceit  of  their  own 
intelligence,  became  the  worst,  were  not  seduced 
by  any  serpent,  but  by  love  of  self;  and  it  is  this 
that  is  meant  by  "the  serpent's  head"  that  the 
Seed  of  the  woman,  that  is,  the  Lord,  should 
bruise. 

Who  is  not  able  to  see  from  reason  that  other 
things  are  meant  than  those  that  are  there  related 
historically  in  the  letter?  For  who  can  compre- 
hend how  the  world  could  have  been  created  in 
the  way  there  described?  Therefore  the  learned 
try  to  explain  the  contents  of  that  first  chapter, 
and  at  length  confess  that  they  do  not  understand 
it.  And  the  same  is  true  of  what  follows,  that  two 
frees,  a  tree  of  life  and  a  tree  of  knowledge,  were 
placed  in  the  garden  or  paradise,  the  latter  as  a 
cause  of  stumbling ;  also,  that  from  the  mere  eat- 
ing of  this  tree  they  so  far  transgressed  that  not 
only  they  but  the  whole  human  race,  their  poster- 
ity, became  subjecl:  to  damnation ;  furthermore, 
that  they  could  have  been  seduced  by  a  serpent; 
besides  other  things  there  stated ;  as  that  the  wife 
was  created  from  the  rib  of  the  husband  ;  that  after 
their  fall  they  acknowledged  their  nakedness  and 
covered  it  with  fig-leaves,  and  that  coats  of  skin 
were  given  them  for  bodily  coverings  ;  and  that 
cherubim  were  placed  with  a  flaming  sword  to 
guard  the  way  to  the  tree  of  life. 

All  these  things  are  representatives,  depicting 
the  establishment  of  the  Most  Ancient  Church,  its 
condition,  its  change,  and  finally  its  destruction. 


CHAPTER  XUL,  N.  242  325 

The  arcana  involved  in  all  these  things,  which  are 
contained  in  the  spiritual  sense  that  is  in  every  par- 
ticular of  the  story,  may  be  found  explained  in  the 
Arcana  Caelestia  on  Genesis  and  Exodus,  pub- 
lished at  London ;  and  it  can  there  be  seen  that 
"the  tree  of  life"  means  the  Lord  in  respect  to  His 
Divine  providence;  and  "the  tree  of  knowledge" 
means  man  in  respect  to  his  own  prudence. 

242.  (ii.)  Their  first  son  Cain  killed  his  brother 
Abel,  and  God  did  not  withhold  him  at  the  time  by 
speaking  with  him,  but  only  after  the  deed,  by  curs- 
ing him. — As  Adam  and  his  wife,  as  has  been  said 
above,  mean  the  Most  Ancient  Church,  so  Cain 
and  Abel,  their  first  sons,  mean  the  two  essentials 
of  the  church,  which  are  love  and  wisdom,  or  char- 
ity and  faith,  "Abel"  meaning  love  and  charity, 
and  "  Cain"  wisdom  and  faith  ;  strictly,  wisdom  sep- 
arated from  love,  or  faith  separated  from  charity; 
and  wisdom  as  well  as  faith  when  so  separated  is 
such  that  it  not  only  rejects  love  and  charity,  but 
even  annihilates  them  ;  and  thus  it  kills  its  brother. 
That  faith  separate  from  charity  does  this  is  well 
known  in  the  Christian  world,  as  may  be  seen  in 
the  Doctrine  of  the  New  Jerusalem  concerning 
Faith. 

The  cursing  of  Cain  involves  the  spiritual  state 
into  which  those  come  after  death  who  separate  faith 
from  charity  or  wisdom  from  love.  And  yet,  that 
wisdom  or  faith  might  not  perish  in .  consequence, 
a  mark  was  put  upon  Cain  to  prevent  his  being 


326  THE  "DIVINE  PROVIDENCE 

slain ;  for  love  cannot  exist  apart  from  wisdom,  or 
charity  apart  from  faith.  These  things  have  nearly 
the  same  representation  as  the  eating  from  the  tree 
of  knowledge ;  and  this  is  why  it  properly  follows 
the  description  of  Adam  and  his  wife.  Moreover, 
those  who  are  in  faith  separated  from  charity  are  in 
theirown  intelligence  ;  while  those  who  are  in  char- 
ity and  in  faith  therefrom  are  in  intelligence  from 
the  Lord,  thus  in  the  Divine  providence. 

243.  (iii.)  The  Israelitish  nation  worshipped 
a  golden  calf  in  the  desert  and  acknowledged  it 
as  God  who  led  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt ; 
and  yet  Jehovah  saw  this  from  Mount  Sinai  near 
by,  and  did  not  seek  to  prevent  it. — This  took  place 
in  the  desert  of  Sinai  near  the  mountain.  Jehovah's 
not  withholding  them  from  that  abominable  worship 
is  in  accordance  with  all  the  laws  of  the  Divine 
providence  heretofore  set  forth,  as  well  as  with 
those  that  follow.  This  evil  was  permitted  them 
lest  they  should  all  perish.  For  the  sons  of  Israel 
were  led  out  of  Egypt  that  they  might  represent  the 
Lord's  church  ;  and  this  they  could  not  represent 
unless  Egyptian  idolatry  had  first  been  rooted  out 
of  their  hearts  ;  and  this  could  not  have  been  done 
without  its  having  been  left  for  them  to  acl  in  ac-x 
cord  with  what  was  in  their  hearts,  that  this  might 
thereby  be  removed  by  means  of  severe  ^punish- 
ment. What  is  further  signified  by  that  worship, 
and  by  the  threat  that  they  should  be  wholly  rejected 
and  that  a  new  nation  should  be  raised  up  by  Mo- 


CHAPTER   XIII.,    N.    245  327 

ses,  may  be  seen  in  the  Arcana  Caelestia  on  the 
thirty-second  chapter  of  Exodus,  where  these  things 
are  treated  of. 

244.  (iv.)    David  numbered  the  people,  and  in 
consequence  a  plague  was  sent  upon  them,  by  which 
so   many   thousands   of  men  perished ;    and  God, 
not  before  but  after  the  deed,  sent  Gad  the  prophet 
to  David,  and  denounced  punishment  upon  him. — 
Whoever  confirms  himself  against  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence may  have  various  thoughts  and  reflections 
about  this  also,  especially  why  David  was  not  ad- 
monished in  advance,  and  why  the  people  were  so 
severely  punished  for  the  king's  transgression.     His 
not  having  been  admonished  in  advance  is  in  ac- 
cordance with    the   laws  of   Divine  providence  al- 
ready set  forth,  especially  the  two  explained  from 
n.  129  to  153,  and  from  n.  154  to  174.     This  severe 
punishment  of  the  people  on  account  of  the  king's 
transgression,  and  the  smiting  of  seventy  thousand 
with  the  plague,  was  not  for  the  king's  sake  but  for 
the  people's  sake.     For  it  is  said, 

"  The  anger  of  Jehovah  was  kindled  against  Israel;  there- 
fore He  moved  David  against  them,  saying,  Go,  num- 
ber Israel  and  Judah"  (2  Sam.  xxiv.  i). 

245.  (v.)    Solomon  was  permitted  to  establish 
idolatrous  worship. — This  was  done  that  he  might 
represent  the  Lord's  kingdom  or  the  church,  with 
all  the  varieties  of  religion  in  the  whole  world ;  for 
the  church  instituted  with  the  nation  of  Israel  and 
Judah  was   a  representative   church  ;    therefore  all 


?28  THE   ^DIVINE  I 

the  judgments  and  statutes  of  that  church  repre- 
sented the  spiritual  things  of  the  church,  which  are 
its  internals ;  that  people  itself  representing  the 
church,  the  king  representing  the  Lord,  David 
representing  the  Lord  who  was  to  come  into  the 
world,  and  Solomon  the  Lord  after  His  coming. 
And  because  the  Lord  after  the  glorification  of  His 
Human  had  power  over  heaven  and  earth  (as  He 
says,  Matt,  xxviii.  18),  so  Solomon  His  represent- 
ative appeared  in  glory  and  magnificence,  and  pos- 
sessed wisdom  above  all  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and 
also  built  the  temple.  Furthermore,  Solomon  per- 
mitted and  set  up  the  worship  of  many  nations, 
by  which  the  various  religions  in  the  world  were 
represented.  His  wives,  seven  hundred  in  number, 
and  his  concubines,  who  numbered  three  hundred 
(i  Kings  xi.  3),  had  a  like  signification,  for  a  "wife" 
in  the  Word  signifies  the  church,  and  a  "  concu- 
bine" a  religion.  This  makes  clear  why  it  was 
granted  to  Solomon  to  build  the  temple,  which 
signified  both  the  Lord's  Divine  Human  {John  ii. 
19,  21)  and  the  church  ;  and  why  he  was  permitted 
to  establish  idolatrous  worship,  and  to  marry  so 
many  wives.  That  by  "  David,"  in  many  places 
in  the  Word,  the  Lord  who  was  to  come  into  the 
world  is  meant,  can  be  seen  in  the  Doctrine  of  the 
New  Jerusalem  concerning  the  Lord  (n.  43,  44). 

246.  (vi.)  Many  kings  after  Solomon  were 
permitted  to  profane  the  temple  and  the  holy  things 
of  the  church. — This  was  because  the  people  repre- 


CHAPTER   XIII.,  N.  247  329 

sented  the  church,  and  their,  king  was  their  head ; 
and  as  the  nation  of  Israel  and  Judah  was  such  that 
they  could  no  longer  represent  the  church,  for  they 
were  idolaters  at  heart,  they  gradually  fell  away 
from  representative  worship,  by  perverting  all  things 
of  the  church,  till  at  last  it  was  devastated.  This 
was  represented  by  the  profanations  of  the  tem- 
ple by  the  kings,  and  by  their  idolatries ;  and  the 
essential  devastation  of  the  church  was  represented 
by  the  destruction  of  the  temple  itself,  and  by  the 
carrying  away  of  the  people  of  Israel,  and  by  the 
captivity  of  the  people  of  Judah  in  Babylonia.  Such 
was  the  cause ;  and  whatever  is  done  from  any 
cause  is  done  from  the  Divine  providence  accord- 
ing to  some  law  of  it. 

247.  (vii.)  That  nation  was  permitted  to  cruc- 
ify the  Lord. — This  was  because  the  church  with 
that  nation  had  been  wholly  devastated,  and  had 
become  such  that  not  only  they  did  not  know 
and  acknowledge  the  Lord,  but  they  even  hated 
Him ;  and  yet  all  things  that  they  did  to  Him  were 
done  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  His  Divine 
providence.  That  the  passion  of  the  cross  was 
the  last  temptation  or  the  last  combat,  by  which 
the  Lord  fully  conquered  the  hells  and  fully  glo- 
rified His  Human  may  be  seen  in  the  Doctrine  of 
the  New  Jerusalem  concerning  the  Lord  (n.  12-14) ; 
and  in  the  Doctrine  of  the  New  Jerusalem  con- 
cerning Faith  (n.  34,  35). 


730  THE  'DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

248.  This  is  an  explanation  of  the  things  enu- 
merated above  (in  n.  236),  which  are  some  of  the 
things  from   the  Word   by  which  a   natural   man 
can    confirm  himself  by  his  reasonings  against  the 
Divine  providence.    For  whatever  such  a  man  sees, 
hears,  or  reads,  as  has  been  said,  he  can  employ  as 
an  argument  against  the  Divine  providence.    There 
are  few,  however,  who  confirm  themselves  against 
the  Divine  providence  from  such  things  as  are  in 
the  Word ;  but  many  do  so  from  things  that  take 
place  before  their  eyes,  such  as   are  mentioned  in 
n.  237,  which  will  now  likewise  be  explained. 

249.  (i.)   Every  worshipper  of  himself  and  of 
nature  confirms  himself  against  the  Divine  provid- 
ence when  he  sees  in   the  world  so  many  impious 
people,  and  so  many  of  their  impieties,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  glorying  of  some  in  these  impieties, 
and  yet  no  punishment  of  such  by  God. — All  impi- 
eties and  the  glorying  in  them  are  permissions,  the 
causes  of  which  are  laws  of  the  Divine  providence. 
Every  man  can  freely,  yea,  most  freely,  think  as  he 
wishes,  as  well  against  God  as  for  God  ;  and  he  that 
thinks  against  God  is  rarely  punished  in  the  natu- 
ral world,  because  there  he  is  always  in  a  state  to 
be  reformed ;  but  he  is  punished  after  death  in  the 
spiritual  world,  for  he  can    then  no  longer   be  re- 
formed. 

That  the  laws  of  Divine  providence  are  the 
causes  of  permissions  is  clear  from  its  laws  that 
have  been  set  forth  above,  when  they  are  recalled 


CHAPTER   XIII.,  N.   249  33»1 

and  examined,  which  are  these  :  Man  should  acl 
from  freedom  in  accordance  with  reason  (see  above, 
n.  71-99);  Man  should  not  be  compelled  by  ex- 
ternal means  to  think  and  will,  and  thus  to  be- 
lieve and  love,  the  things  of  religion,  but  should 
guide  himself  and  sometimes  compel  himself  (see 
n.  129-153);  Man's  own  prudence  is  nothing,  it 
merely  appears  to  be  something,  and  ought  to 
appear  as  if  it  were ;  but  the  Divine  providence, 
because  of  its  minute  particulars,  is  universal  (n. 
191-213)  ;  The  Divine  providence  looks  to  eternal 
things,  and  to  temporal  things  only  so  far  as  they 
make  one  with  eternal  things  (n.  214-220);  Man 
is  admitted  interiorly  into  truths  of  faith  and  into 
goods  of  charity  only  so  far  as  he  can  be  kept  in 
them  until  the  end  of  his  life  (n.  221-233). 

That  the  causes  of  permissions  are  laws  of  the 
Divine  providence  will  also  be  made  clear  from  what 
is  to  follow,  as  from  this  :  Evils  are  permitted  for 
the  sake  of  the  end,  which  is  salvation.  Also  from 
this :  The  Divine  providence  is  unceasing,  both 
with  the  evil  and  with  the  good.  And  finally  from 
this :  The  Lord  cannot  acl:  contrary  to  the  laws 
of  His  Divine  providence,  for  to  acl:  contrary  to 
them  would  be  acting  contrary  to  His  Divine  love 
and  to  His  Divine  wisdom,  thus  contrary  to  Him- 
self. When  these  laws  are  considered  together 
they  make  clear  the  reasons  why  impieties  are 
permitted  by  the  Lord,  and  are  not  punished  so 
long  as  they  are  in  the  thought,  and  rarely  even 
while  they  are  in  the  purpose  and  thus  in  the  will, 


332  THE  T>IY1HE  TROVIDENCE 

but  not  in  the  act.  And  yet  its  own  punishment 
follows  every  evil  ;  it  is  as  if  its  punishment  were 
inscribed  upon  the  evil,  and  this  punishment  the 
wicked  man  endures  after  death. 

By  what  has  now  been  set  forth  that  which  was 
stated  above  (in  n.  237)  is  also  explained,  namely, 
The  worshipper  of  himself  and  of  nature  confirms 
himself  against  the  Divine  providence  still  further 
when  he  sees  that  plots,  devices,  and  frauds  are 
successful  even  against  the  pious,  just,  and  sincere  ; 
and  that  injustice  triumphs  over  justice  in  the  courts 
and  in  business.  All  the  laws  of  Divine  providence 
are  necessities  ;  and  as  they  are  the  causes  of  the 
permission  of  these  things  it  is  clear  that  if  man  is 
to  live  as  a  man,  to  be  reformed  and  to  be  saved, 
these  things  can  be  taken  away  from  him  by  the 
Lord  only  by  means, — by  the  Word,  and  especially 
by  the  commandments  of  the  decalogue, — with 
those  who  acknowledge  all  kinds  of  murder,  adul- 
tery, theft,  and  false  witness  as  sins  ;  but  with  those 
who  do  not  acknowledge  such  things  to  be  sins, 
by  means  of  the  civil  laws  and  the  fear  of  their  pun- 
ishments, also  by  means  of  moral  laws,  and  the  fear 
of  the  loss  of  reputation,  and  thereby  of  honor  and 
wealth.  By  these  means  the  Lord  leads  the  evil, 
but  only  away  from  doing  these  things,  not  from 
thinking  and  willing  them  ;  while  by  the  former 
means  He  leads  the  good,  not  only  away  from  do- 
ing these  things,  but  also  from  thinking  and  willing 
them. 


CHAPTER  XIII.,  N.  250  333 

250.  (ii.)  The  worshipper  of  himself  and  of 
nature  confirms  himself  against  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence when  he  sees  the  impious  exalted  to  honors 
and  to  high  offices  in  church  and  state,  also  abound- 
ing in  wealth  and  living  in  luxury  and  magnifi- 
cence, while  he  sees  the  worshippers  of  God  despised 
and  poor. — The  worshipper  of  himself  and  of  nature 
believes  dignities  and  wealth  to  be  the  highest  and 
the  only  happiness  that  can  be  granted,  thus  hap- 
piness itself;  and  if  he  has  any  thought  of  God 
from  a  sense  of  worship  instilled  in  infancy  he 
calls  them  Divine  blessings ;  and  so  long  as  he  is 
not  puffed  up  by  them  he  thinks  that  there  is  a 
God,  and  even  worships  God.  But  there  lies  hid- 
den in  the  worship  what  he  is  himself  then  ignor- 
ant of,  an  aspiration  to  be  raised  up  by  God  to 
still  higher  dignities,  and  to  still  greater  wealth ; 
and  when  he  reaches  these  his  worship  tends  more 
and  more  to  outward  things,  until  it  so  falls  away 
that  at  length  he  despises  and  denies  God ;  and  he 
does  the  same  if  he  is  cast  down  from  the  dig- 
nity and  opulence  on  which  he  has  set  his  heart. 
What,  then,  are  dignities  and  wealth  to  the  wicked 
but  stumblingblocks? 

But  to  the  good  they  are  not  so,  because  they 
do  not  set  their  hearts  on  them,  but  on  the  uses 
or  the  goods  in  the  performance  of  which  dignities 
and  wealth  are  of  service  as  means.  Therefore 
only  he  that  is  a  worshipper  of  himself  and  nature 
can  confirm  himself  against  Divine  providence  be- 
cause of  the  advancement  of  the  impious  to  hon- 


334  THE  'DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

ors  and  wealth  and  to  high  offices  in  church  and 
state.  Moreover,  what  is  dignity  greater  or  less? 
And  what  is  opulence  greater  or  less?  In  itself  is 
it  anything  but  an  imaginary  something?  Is  one 
person  more  fortunate  or  happier  than  another? 
Does  a  great  man,  or  even  a  king  or  emperor, 
after  a  single  year,  regard  the  dignity  as  anything 
more  than  something  common,  which  no  longer  ex- 
alts his  heart  with  joy,  but  may  even  become  worth- 
less to  .him?  Are  such  by  virtue  of  their  digni- 
ties in  any  greater  degree  of  happiness  than  those 
who  are  in  less  dignity,  or  even  in  the  least,  like 
farmers  and  even  their  servants?  These,  when  all 
goes  well  with  them,  and  they  are  content  with 
their  lot,  may  have  a  greater  measure  of  happi- 
ness. What  is  more  restless  at  heart,  more  fre- 
quently provoked,  more  violently  enraged,  than  self- 
love  ;  and  this  as  often  as  it  is  not  honored  ac- 
cording to  the  pride  of  its  heart,  and  as  often  as 
anything  does  not  succeed  according  to  its  wish 
and  whim?  What,  then,  is  dignity,  if  it  does  not 
pertain  to  some  matter  or  use,  but  an  idea  ?  And 
can  there  be  such  an  idea  in  any  thought  except 
thought  about  self  and  the  world,  which  essentially 
in  itself  is  that  the  world  is  everything  and  the 
eternal  nothing. 

Something  shall  now  be  said  about  the  Divine 
providence,  why  it  permits  the  impious  in  heart  to 
be  raised  to  dignities  and  enriched  with  posses- 
sions. The  impious  or  wicked  can  perform  uses 
equally  with  the  pious  or  good,  and  even  with 


CHAPTER   XIII. ,  N.  250  335 

greater  zeal,  for  they  have  regard  to  themselves 
in  the  uses,  and  to  the  honors  as  the  uses ;  there- 
fore to  whatever  height  the  love  of  self  climbs  the 
lust  of  performing  uses  for  the  sake  of  its  own 
glory  burns  in  it.  With  the  pious  or  good  there 
is  no  such  fire,  unless  unconsciously  kindled  by 
some  feeling  of  konor.  Thus  the  Lord  governs  the 
impious  in  heart  who  are  in  places  of  dignity  by 
the  glory  of  their  name,  and  incites  them  to  the 
performance  of  uses  to  the  community  or  country, 
to  the  society  or  city  in  which  they  dwell,  and  to 
their  fellow-citizen  or  neighbor  with  whom  they  are 
associated.  This  is  the  Lord's  government,  which 
is  called  the  Divine  providence  with  such ;  for  the 
Lord's  kingdom  is  a  kingdom  of  uses;  and  where 
there  are  but  few  who  perform  uses  for  the  sake 
of  uses  He  causes  the  worshippers  of  self  to  be 
raised  to  high  offices,  in  which  each  one  is  incited 
to  do  good  by  means  of  his  own  love. 

Suppose  an  infernal  kingdom  in  the  world  (al- 
though there  is  none  such)  where  none  but  the 
loves  of  self  rule  (and  the  love  of  self  is  itself  the 
devil),  would  not  every  one  perform  uses  from  the 
fire  of  self-love  and  for  the  splendor  of  his  own  glory, 
to  a  greater  extent  than  in  any  other  kingdom? 
There  the  public  good  would  be  in  every  mouth, 
but  his  own  good  in  every  heart.  And  as  each 
one  would  look  to  his  own  chief  for  his  advancement 
(for  each  one  would  aspire  to  become  greatest)) 
could  he  see  that  there  is  a  God?  A  smoke  like 
that  of  a  conflagration  would  surround  him,  through 


?36  'THE  "DIVINE  PROVIDENCE 

which  no  spiritual  truth  in  its  own  light  could  pass. 
I  have  seen  that  smoke  about  the  hells  of  such. 
Light  your  lamp  and  search,  and  see  how  many 
there  are  in  the  kingdoms  of  the  present  day  who 
aspire  to  dignities  and  who  are  not  loves  of  self 
and  the  world.  Will  you  find  fifty  in  a  thousand 
who  are  loves  of  God,  and  among  these  some, 
perhaps,  who  aspire  to  dignities?  Since,  then, 
there  are  so  few  who  are  loves  of  God,  and  so  many 
who  are  loves  of  self  and  the  world,  and  since  the 
latter  loves  from  their  fire  perform  uses  more  than 
the  loves  of  God  from  theirs,  how  can  anyone  con- 
firm himself  [against  the  Divine  providence]  be- 
cause the  evil  are  in  eminence  and  opulence  more 
than  the  good? 

This  is  shown  in  these  words  of  the  Lord : 

"The  Lord  commended  the  unjust  steward  because  he 
had  done  wisely  ;  for  the  sons  of  this  age  are  for  their 
own  generation  wiser  than  the  sons  of  light.  And  I 
say  unto  you,  Make  to  yourselves  friends  out  of  the 
mammon  of  unrighteousness,  that  when  ye  fail  they 
may  receive  you  into  the  eternal  tabernacles  "  (Luke 
xvi.  8,  9). 

The  meaning  of  this  in  the  natural  sense  is  clear  • 
but  in  the  spiritual  sense  "the  mammon  of  un- 
righteousness" means  the  knowledges  of  truth  and 
good  possessed  by  the  evil,  which  they  employ 
solely  in  acquiring  for  themselves  dignities  and 
wealth ;  out  of  these  knowledges  the  good,  or  "the 
sons  of  light,"  must  make  to  themselves  friends, 
that  they  may  receive  them  into  the  eternal  taber- 
nacles. That  many  are  loves  of  self  and  the  world 


CHAPTER  XIII.,  N.  251  337 

and  that  few  are  loves  of  God,  the  Lord  teaches  in 
these  words  ; 

"  Wide  is  the  gate  and  broad  is  the  way  that  leadeth  to 
destruction,  and  many  be  they  that  enter  in  thereby  ; 
but  narrow  and  straitened  is  the  way  that  leadeth 
unto  life,  and  few  be  they  that  find  it"  (Matt.  vii.  13, 

14). 

That  dignities  and  wealth  are  either  curses  or  bless- 
ings, and  with  whom  they  are  the  one  or  the  other, 
may  be  seen  above  (n.  217). 


(iii.  )  The  worshipper  of  himself  and  of 
nature  \  confirms  himself  against  Divine  providence 
when  he  reflects  that  wars  are  permitted,  and  the 
consequent  slaughter  of  so  many  men,  and  the 
plundering  of  their  wealth.  —  It  is  not  from  the 
Divine  providence  that  wars  exist,  for  they  are 
'connected  with  murders,  plunderings,  violence,  cru- 
elties, and  other  terrible  evils,  which  are  directly 
opposed  to  Christian  charity  ;  and  yet  they  must 
needs  be  permitted,  because,  since  the  time  of  the 
most  ancient  people,  meant  by  Adam  and  his  wife 
(of  whom  above,  n.  241),  the  life's  love  of  man  has 
become  such  that  it  wills  to  rule  over  others,  and 
finally  over  all  ;  also  to  possess  the  wealth  of  the 
world,  and  finally  all  wealth.  These  two  loves 
cannot  be  kept  bound,  for  it  is  according  to  the 
Divine  providence  that  every  one  be  allowed  to 
ac~t  from  freedom  in  accordance  with  reason  (see 
above,  n.  71-99);  furthermore,  without  permissions 
man  cannot  be  led  from  evil  by  the  Lord,  and  thus 


338  THE  DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

be  reformed  and  saved.  For  unless  evils  were  per- 
mitted to  break  out  man  would  not  see  them,  and 
therefore  would  not  acknowledge  them,  and  thus 
could  not  be  led  to  resist  them.  For  this  reason 
evils  cannot  be  prevented  by  any  providence;  for 
if  they  were  they  would  remain  shut  in,  and  like 
the  diseases  called  cancer  and  gangrene  .would 
spread  and  consume  all  that  is  vital  in  man. 

For  man  from  birth  is  like  a  little  hell,  be- 
tween which  and  heaven  there  is  unceasing  dis- 
cordance. No  man  can  be  withdrawn  from  his 
hell  by  the  Lord  unless  he  sees  that  he  is  in  hell 
and  wishes  to  be  led  out ;  and  this  cannot  be  done 
without  permissions,  the  causes  of  which  are  laws 
of  the  Divine  providence.  For  this  reason  there 
are  wars,  lesser  and  greater,  the  lesser  between  the 
possessors  of  estates  and  their  neighbors,  and  the 
greater  between  the  rulers  of  kingdoms  and  their 
neighbors.  Between  the  lesser  and  greater  there 
is  no  difference,  except  that  the  lesser  are  kept 
within  bounds  by  the  laws  of  the  nation,  and  the 
greater  by  the  laws  of  nations  ;  also  that  while  both 
the  lesser  and  greater  wish  to  transgress  their  laws, 
the  lesser  cannot,  and  the  greater  can,  although 
not  beyond  its  abilities. 

There  are  many  other  reasons  stored  up  in  the 
treasury  of  Divine  wisdom  why  the  Lord  does 
not  check  the  greater  \vars,  with  their  kings  and 
commanders,  connected  as  they  are  with  murders, 
depredations,  violence,  and  cruelties,  neither  in  their 
beginning  nor  in  their  progress,  but  only  at  the 


CHAPTER  XIII.,  N.  251  339 

close,  when  the  power  of  one  or  the  other  has  be- 
come so  reduced  that  he  is  in  danger  of  destruc- 
tion. Some  of  these  reasons  have  been  revealed  to 
me,  and  among  them  is  this  :  that  all  wars,  however 
much  they  may  belong  to  civil  affairs,  represent 
in  heaven  the  states  of  the  church,  and  are  corre- 
spondences. Such  were  all  the  wars  described  in 
the  Word,  and  such  also  are  all  wars  at  this  day. 
The  wars  described  in  the  Word  are  those  that 
the  children  of  Israel  waged  with  various  nations, 
as  the  Amorites,  the  Ammonites,  the  Moabites,  the 
Philistines,  the  Syrians,  the  Egyptians,  the  Chal- 
deans, and  the  Assyrians  ;  and  when  the  children 
of  Israel,  who  represented  the  church,  departed 
from  their  commandments  and  statutes  and  fell  into 
the  evils  signified  by  those  nations,  they  were  pun- 
ished by  some  nation,  because  each  nation  with 
which  the  children  of  Israel  waged  war  signified 
some  particular  kind  of  evil.  For  example,  when 
they  profaned  the  holy  things  of  the  church  by  foul 
idolatries  they  were  punished  by  the  Assyrians  and 
Chaldeans, because  '  'Assyria' '  and '  'Chaldea' '  signify 
the  profanation  of  whatsis  holy.  What  was  signi- 
fied by  their  wars  with  the  Philistines  may  be  seen 
in  the  Doctrine  of  the  New  Jerusalem  concerning 
Faith  (n.  50-54). 

Like  things  are  represented  by  the  wars  of  the 
present  day,  wherever  they  occur  ;  for  all  things 
that  take  place  in  the  natural  world  correspond  to 
spiritual  things  in  the  spiritual  world,  and  every 
thing  spiritual  has  relation  to  the  church.  It  is 


?40  THE  'DIVIDE  I'ROYIDENCE 

not  known  in  this  world  what  kingdoms  in  Christ- 
endom answer  to  the  Moabites  and  Ammonites, 
what  to  the  Syrians  and  Philistines,  or  what  to  the 
Chaldeans  and  Assyrians,  and  the  others  with  whom 
the  children  of  Israel  waged  war ;  and  yet  there  are 
those  that  do  answer  to  them.  Moreover,  what 
the  quality  of  the  church  upon  earth  is  and  what 
the  evils  are  into  which  it  falls,  and  for  which  it  is 
punished  by  wars,  cannot  be  seen  at  all  in  the  nat- 
ural world ;  because  in  this  world  externals  only 
are  evident,  and  these  do  not  constitute  the  church  ; 
but  thi§  is  seen  in  the  spiritual  world,  where  inter- 
nals are  manifest,  in  which  the  church  itself  is ;  and 
there  all  are  conjoined  in  accordance  with  their 
various  states.  The  conflicts  of  these  in  the  spirit- 
ual world  correspond  to  wars ;  which  are  governed 
by  the  Lord  on  both  sides  correspondentially,  in 
accordance  with  His  Divine  providence. 

That  in  this  world  wars  are  governed  by  Di- 
vine providence  the  spiritual  man  acknowledges, 
but "  the  natural  man  does  not,  except  when  a  fest- 
ival is  appointed  on  account  of  a  victory,  that  he 
may  return  thanks  on  his  knees  to  God  that  He  has 
given  the  victory,  also  by 'a  few  words  before  go- 
ing into  battle.  But  when  he  returns  into  himself 
he  ascribes  the  victory  either  to  the  prudence  of 
the  general  or  to  some  measure  or  occurrence  in 
the  midst  of  the  battle,  which  they  had  not  thought 
of,  from  which  nevertheless  came  the  victory. 

That  the  Divine  providence  that  is  called  fortune 
is  in  the  least  particulars  of  even  trivial  things  may 


CHAPTER  XIII.,  N.  25 2  341 

be  seen  above  (n.  212);  and  if  in  these  you  ac- 
knowledge the  Divine  providence  you  must  cer- 
tainly acknowledge  it  in  the  affairs  of  war.  Also 
the  successes  and  favorable  occurrences  of  war  are 
called  in  common  language  the  fortune  of  war  ;  and 
this  is  Divine  providence,  especially  in  the  plans 
and  preparations  of  the  general,  even  although  he 
then  and  afterwards  may  ascribe  it  all  to  his  own 
prudence.  And  let  him  do  this  if  he  will,  for  he  is 
in  full  liberty  to  think  in  favor  of  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence or  against  it,  and  even  in  favor  of  God 
and  against  Him  ;  but  let  him  know  that  no  part 
whatever  of  the  plan  or  preparation  is  from  him- 
self; it  all  flows  in  either  from  heaven  or  from  hell, 
— from  hell  by  permission,  from  heaven  by  provid- 
ence. 

252.  (iv.)  The  worshipper  of  himself  and  of 
nature  confirms  himself  against  Divine  providence 
when  he  reflects  according  to  his  perception  that 
victories  are  on  the  side  of  prudence,  and  sometimes 
not  on  the  side  of  justice ;  and  that  it  makes  no 
difference  whether  the  commander  is  an  upright  man 
or  not. — Victories  seem  to  be  on  the  side  of  prud- 
ence, and  sometimes  not  on  the  side  of  justice,  be- 
cause man  judges  from  the  appearance ;  also  he 
favors  one  side  more  than  the  other,  and  that  which 
he  favors  he  is  able  to  confirm  by  reasonings ;  nor 
does  he  know  that  in  henven  there  is  a  spiritual 
justice  to  a  cause  and  in  the  world  a  natural  justice, 
as  has  just  been  said,  and  that  these  are  conjoined 


?42  THE  THflNE  TROt/IDENCE 

by  means  of  a  connexion  between  things  past  and 
things  future  that  are  known  only  to  the  Lord. 

It  makes  no  difference  whether  the  commander 
is  an  upright  man  or  not,  for  the  same  reason  as 
was  set  forth  above  (n.  250),  namely,  that  the  wicked 
perform  uses  equally  with  the  good,  and  the  evil 
from  their  fire  with  more  ardor  than  the  good, 
especially  in  wars,  because  the  evil  man  is  more 
crafty  and  shrewd  in  contriving  devices  ;  and  from 
a  love  of  glory  he  takes  more  delight  than  a  good 
man  in  killing  and  plundering  those  whom  he 
knows  and  declares  to  be  his  enemies ;  for  a  good 
man  is  prudent  and  zealous  only  in  defending,  and 
rarely  is  prudent  and  zealous  in  attacking.  It  is 
the  same  as  with  spirits  of  hell-  and  angels  of 
heaven  ;  the  spirits  of  hell  attack,  while  the  angels 
of  heaven  defend  themselves.  From  this  comes  the 
conclusion  that  it  is  allowable  for  any  one  to  defend 
his  country  and  his  fellow-citizens  against  invading 
enemies,  even  by  means  of  wicked  commanders, 
but  that  it  is  not  allowable  to  become  an  enemy 
without  cause.  A  cause  that  looks  to  glory  alone 
is  in  itself  diabolical,  for  it  is  of  the  love  of  self. 

253»  Thus  far  have  been  explained  the  things 
presented  above  (in  n.  237),  by  which  the  natural 
man  confirms  himself  against  Divine  providence. 
The  things  that  follow  (in  n.  238),  relating  to  the 
state  of  religion  in  various  nations,  that  also  are 
employed  by  the  merely  natural  man  as  arguments 
against  Divine  providence,  shall  now  be  explained. 


CHAPTER  Xlll.,  N.  25}  343 

For  the  natural  man  says  in  his  heart,  How  can 
so  many  discordant  religions  exist,  instead  of  one 
true  religion  over  all  the  earth,  if  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence has  as  its  end  a  heaven  from  the  human 
race  (as  shown  above,  n.  27-45)?  But  listen,  I 
pray  :  All  the  human  beings  that  are  born,  howev- 
er many  and  in  whatever  religion,  can  be  saved, 
provided  they  acknowledge  God  and  live  accord- 
ing to  the  commandments  in  the  decalogue,  which 
are  not  to  kill,  not  to  commit  adultery,  not  to  steal, 
not  to  bear  false  witness,  for  the  reason  that  doing 
such  things  is  contrary  to  religion,  and  thus  con- 
trary to  God.  Such  fear  God  and  love  the  neigh- 
bor ;  they  fear  God  in  the  thought  that  to  do  such 
things  is  contrary  to  God ;  and  they  love  the  neigh- 
bor in  the  thought  that  to  kill,  to  commit  adultery, 
to  steal,  to  bear  false  witness,  and  to  covet  the 
neighbor's  house  or  wife  is  against  the  neighbor. 
Because  such  in  their  life  look  to  God,  and  do  not 
do  evil  to  the  neighbor,  they  are  led  by  the  Lord ; 
and  those  who  are  led  are  also  taught  in  accord- 
ance with  their  religion,  about  God  and  about  the 
neighbor;  for  those  who  so  live  love  to  be  taught, 
while  those  who  live  otherwise  do  not ;  and  because 
they  love  to  be  taught,  when  after  death  they  be- 
come spirits  they  are  instructed  by  the  angels 
and  gladly  accept  such  truths  as  are  in  the  Word. 
Something  about  these  may  be  seen  in  the  Doc- 
trine of  the  New  Jerusalem  concerning  the  Sacred 
Scripture  (n.  91-97,  and  n.  104-113). 


344  THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE 

254*  (i.)  The  merely  natural  man  confirms 
himself  against  the  Divine  providence  when  he  con- 
siders the  religious  condition  of  various  peoples — 
that  there  are  some  who  are  totally  ignorant  of 
God,  and  some  who  worship  the  sun  and  moon, 
and  some  who  worship  idols  and  graven  images. — 
Those  who  draw  arguments  from  these  things 
against  the  Divine  providence  are  ignorant  of  the 
arcana  of  heaven,  which  are  innumerable,  and  with 
scarcely  one  of  which  man  is  acquainted,  among 
which  is  this,  that  man  is  not  taught  immediately 
from  heaven  but  mediately  (see  above,  n.  154-174). 
And  because  man  is  taught  mediately,  and  the 
Gospel  could  not  reach  through  missionaries  all  that 
dwell  in  the  whole  world,  and  yet  religion  could 
be  communicated  in  various  ways  even  to  the  na- 
tions that  occupy  the  remote  parts  of  the  earth, 
therefore  this  has  been  accomplished  by  the  Divine 
providence.  For  no  man  gets  his  religion  from 
himself,  but  through  another,  who  has  either  learned 
directly  from  the  Word,  or  by  transmission  from 
others  who  have  learned  it,  that  there  is  a  God, 
that  there  are  a  heaven  and  a  hell,  that  there  is 
a  life  after  death,  and  that  in  order  to  become 
happy  God  must  be  worshipped. 

That  a  religion  was  spread  throughout  the  world 
from  the  Ancient  Word,  and  afterwards  from  the 
Israelitish  Word,  may  be  seen  in  the  Doflrine  of 
the  New  Jerusalem  concerning  the  Sacred  Script- 
ure (n.  101-103)  i  and  that  if  there  had  been  no 
Word  there  could  have  been  no  knowledge  of  God, 


CHAPTER  X/ff.,  AT.  254  345 

of  heaven  and  of  hell,  of  the  life  after  death,  still 
less  of  the  Lord,  see  the  same  work  (n.  114-118). 
When  a  religion  has  been  once  implanted  in  a 
nation  the  Lord  leads  that  nation  according  to  the 
precepts  and  dogmas  of  its  own  religion  ;  and  He 
has  provided  that  there  shall  be  in  every  religion 
precepts  like  those  in  the  decalogue  ;  as,  that  God 
must  be  worshipped,  His  name  must  not  be  pro- 
faned, a  sacred  day  must  be  observed,  parents 
must  be  honored,  and  there  must  be  no  murder, 
adultery,  theft,  or  false  witness.  The  nation  that 
regards  these  precepts  as  Divine  and  lives  accord- 
ing to  them  from  a  religious  motive  is  saved  (as 
has  been  said  just  above,  n.  253).  Moreover,  most 
nations  remote  from  Christendom  regard  these  not 
as  civil  but  as  Divine  laws,  and  hold  them  sacred. 
That  man  is  saved  by  a  life  according  to  these 
precepts  may  be  seen  in  the  Doftrine  of  the  New 
Jerusalem  [concerning  Life~\  from  the  Command- 
ments of  the  Decalogue,  from  beginning  to  end. 

Among  the  arcana  of  heaven  is  this  also  :  The 
angelic  heaven  before  the  Lord  is  as  one  man, 
whose  soul  and  life  is  the  Lord  ;  and  this  Divine 
Man  is  a  man  in  complete  form,  not  only  in  respecl: 
to  external  members  and  organs,  but  also  in  re- 
specl; to  internal  members  and  organs,  which  are 
many,  and  even  with  respecl:  to  the  skins,  mem- 
branes, cartilages,  and  bones  ;  but  in  that  Man  all 
these  are  spiritual,  not  material.  And  it  has  been 
provided  by  the  Lord  that  those  who  could  not  be 
reached  by  the  Gospel,  but  only  by  a  religion 


346  THE  THV1NE  TROWDENCE 

should  also  be  able  to  have  a  place  in  that  Divine 
Man,  that  is,  in  heaven,  constituting  those  parts 
that  are  called  skins,  membranes,  cartilages,  and 
bones,  and  that  they,  like  others,  should  be  in 
heavenly  joy.  For  it  matters  not  whether  they  are 
in  joy  like  that  of  the  angels  of  the  highest  heaven 
or  in  joy  like  that  of  the  angels  of*  the  lowest 
heaven ;  for  every  one  who  comes  into  heaven  en- 
ters into  the  highest  joy  of  his  heart ;  he  can  bear 
no  higher  joy,  for  he  would  be  suffocated  thereby. 

This  may  be  compared  to  a  peasant  and  a  king. 
A  peasant  may  be  in  a  state  of  the  highest  joy 
when  he  goes  with  a  new  suit  of  coarse  wool,  and 
sits  down  to  a  table  on  which  is  pork,  a  bit  of  beef, 
cheese,  beer,  and  common  wine,  and  would  be  op- 
pressed at  heart  if  like  a  king  he  were  clothed  in 
purple  and  silk,  gold  and  silver,  and  a  table  were 
placed  before  him  covered  with  delicacies  and  costly 
dishes  of  many  kinds,  with  noble  wine.  From  this 
it  is  clear  that  there  is  heavenly  happiness  for  the 
last  as  well  as  for  the  first,  for  each  in  his  degree ; 
so  also  for  those  who  are  outside  of  the  Christian 
world,  provided  they  shun  evils  as  sins  against  God 
because  they  are  contrary  to  religion. 

There  are  a  few  who  are  wholly  ignorant  of  God. 
That  if  such  have  lived  a  moral  life  they  are  taught 
by  angels  after  death  and  receive  in  their  moral 
life  something  spiritual,  can  be  seen  in  the  Doc- 
trine of  the  New  Jerusalem  concerning  the  Sacred 
Scripture  (n.  116).  So  with  those  who  worship  the 
sun  and  moon,  believing  God  to  be  there ;  as  they 


CHAPTER  XIII.,  N.  254  347 

do  not  know  otherwise  this  is  not  imputed  to  them 
as  a  sin,  for  the  Lord  says, 

"  If  ye  were  blind  "  (that  is,  if  ye  did  not  know)  "  ye  would 
have  no  sin  "  (John  ix.  41). 

But  there  are  many,  even  in  the  Christian  world, 
who  worship  idols  and  graven  images.  This  is 
idolatrous,  and  yet  not  with  all  ;  for  there  are  some 
to  whom  graven  images  are  serviceable  as  a  means 
of  awakening  thought  about  God  ;  for  it  is  from 
an  influx  from  heaven  that  those  who  acknowledge 
God  have  a  desire  to  see  Him  ;  and  as  these  are 
not  able,  like  the  interiorly  spiritual,  to  lift  their 
minds  above  sensual  things,  their  thought  of  God 
is  aroused  by  the  graven  thing  or  image.  Those 
who  do  this  and  do  not  worship  the  graven  image 
itself  as  God,  if  they  live  according  to  the  precepts 
of  the  decalogue  from  a  religious  motive,  are 
saved. 

From  all  this  it  is  clear  that  as  the  Lord  desires 
the  welfare  of  all  He  has  provided  that  every  one 
may  have  some  place  in  heaven  if  he  lives  well. 
That  before  the  Lord  heaven  is  as  one  man,  and 
thus  heaven  corresponds  to  each  and  all  things  in 
man,  and  that  there  are  those  who  answer  to  skins, 
membranes,  cartilages,  and  bones,  may  be  seen  in 
the  work  on  Heaven  and  Hell,  published  at  Lon- 
don in  the  year  1758  (n.  59-102)  ;  and  in  the 
Arcana  Caelestia  (n.  5552-5569);  also  above  (n. 
201-204). 


348  THE  ^Il/INE  TROYIDENCE 


(n'0  The  merely  natural  man  confirms 
himself  against  the  Divine  providence  when  he  sees 
the  Mohammedan  religion  accepted  by  so  many 
empires  and  kingdoms.  —  That  this  religion  is  ac- 
cepted by  more  kingdoms  than  the  Christian  re- 
ligion may  be  a  stumbling-block  to  those  who  think 
about  the  Divine  providence  and  who  at  the  same 
time  believe  that  only  those  who  are  born  Christ- 
ians, that  is,  those  where  the  Word  is,  and  by  it 
the  Lord  is  known,  can  be  saved.  But  the  Mo- 
hammedan religion  is  not  a  stumbling-block  to 
those  who  believe  that  all  things  belong  to  the  Di- 
vine providence.  Such  inquire  how  this  is,  and 
they  find  out  ;  it  is  in  this  :  that  the  Mohammedan 
religion  acknowledges  the  Lord  as  the  Son  of  God, 
as  the  wisest  of  men,  and  as  a  very  great  prophet 
who  came  into  the  world  to  teach  men  ;  a  great 
part  'of  the  Mohammedans  make  Him  greater  than 
Mohammed. 

To  make  it  fully  clear  that  this  religion  was 
raised  up  by  the  Lord's  Divine  providence  to  de- 
stroy the  idolatries  of  many  nations  it  shall  be  set 
forth  in  a  certain  order.  First,  then,  respecting 
the  origin  of  idolatry.  Previous  to  that  religion 
the  worship  of  idols  was  common  throughout  the 
world.  This  was  because  the  churches  before  the 
coming  of  the  Lord  were  all  representative  church- 
es. Such  was  the  Israelitish  church.  In  that 
church  the  tabernacle,  Aaron's  garments,  the  sac- 
rifices, all  things  belonging  to  the  temple  at  Jeru- 
salem, and  the  statutes,  were  representative.  Among 


CHAPTER   XI It.,  N.  255  349 

the  ancients  there  was  a  knowledge  of  correspond- 
ences (which  includes  a  knowledge  of  representa- 
tives), the  essential  knowledge  of  the  wise;  and 
this  was  especially  cultivated  in  Egypt,  and  from 
it  their  hieroglyphics  were  derived.  From  that 
knowledge  they  knew  the  signification  of  animals 
of  every  kind,  also  the  signification  of  all  kinds  of 
trees,  and  of  mountains,  hills,  rivers,  fountains,  and 
also  of  the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the  stars.  And  as 
all  their  worship  was  representative,  consisting  of 
pure  correspondences,  they  worshipped  on  mount- 
ains and  hills,  and  also  in  groves  and  gardens,  and 
they  consecrated  fountains,  and  in  their  adoration 
of  God  they  turned  their  faces  to  the  rising  sun ; 
moreover  they  made  graven  images  of  horses,  oxen, 
calves,  lambs,  and  even  birds  and  fishes,  and  ser- 
pents ;  and  at  home  and  elsewhere  they  placed  these 
in  an  order  in  conformity  to  the  spiritual  things  of 
the  church  to  which  they  corresponded,  or  which 
they  represented.  They  also  placed  like  things  in 
their  temples,  to  call  to  remembrance  the  holy 
things  which  they  signified. 

After  a  time,  when  the  knowledge  of  corre- 
spondences had  been  lost,  their  posterity  began  to 
worship  the  graven  images  themselves,  as  holy  in 
themselves,  not  knowing  that  their  fathers  of  an- 
cient time  had  seen  no  holiness  in  them,  but  that 
they  merely  represented  and  thus  signified  holy 
things,  according  to  correspondences.  From  this 
the  idolatries  arose  which  filled  the  whole  world — 
Asia  with  the  neighboring  islands,  Africa,  and  Eu- 


?50  THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE 

rope.  To  extirpate  all  these  idolatries  it  came  to 
pass,  under  the  Lord's*  Divine  providence,  that  a 
new  religion  arose,  adapted  to  the  genius  of  Ori- 
entals, in  which  there  was  something  from  the  Word 
of  both  Testaments,  and  which  taught  that  the  Lord 
came  into  the  world,  and  that  He  was  a  very  great 
prophet,  the  wisest  of  men,  and  the  Son  of  God. 
This  was  done  through  Mohammed,  from  whom 
that  religion  was  called  the  Mohammedan  religion. 

Under  the  Lord's  Divine  providence  this  relig- 
ion was  raised  up  and  adapted  to  the  genius  of 
Orientals,  as  has  been  said,  to  the  end  that  it  might 
destroy  the  idolatries  of  so  many  nations,  and  give 
them  some  knowledge  of  the  Lord  before  they  en- 
tered the  spiritual  world.  And  this  religion  would 
not  have  been  accepted  by  so  many  kingdoms,  and 
would  have  been  powerless  to  extirpate  idolatries, 
if  it  had  not  been  adapted  and  suited  to  the  ideas 
ot  thought  and  to  the  life  of  them  all.  It  did  not 
acknowledge  the  Lord  as  the  God  of  heaven  and 
earth  because  Orientals  acknowledged  God  as  the 
Creator  of  the  universe,  and  were  unable  to  com- 
prehend how  He  could  come  into  the  world  and 
assume  the  Human  ;  even  as  Christians  do  not  com- 
prehend this,  and  consequently  in  their  thought 
separate  His  Divine  from  His  Human,  and  place 
the  Divine  near  the  Father  in  heaven,  and  His  Hu- 
man they  know  not  where. 

From  all  this  it  can  be  seen  that  the  Moham- 
medan religion  arose  under  the  Lord's  Divine  pro- 
vidence ;  and  that  all  of  that  religion  who  acknow- 


CHAPTER   XI II.,  N.  256  351 

ledge  the  Lord  as  the  Son  of  God,  and  at  the 
same  time  live  according  to  the  commandments  of 
the  decalogue,  (which  they  have,)  by  shunning  evils 
as  sins,  come  into  a  heaven  that  is  called  the  Mo- 
hammedan heaven.  This  heaven,  too,  is  divided 
into  three  heavens,  a  highest,  a  middle,  and  a  low- 
est. In  the  highest  heaven  are  those  who  acknow- 
ledge the  Lord  to  be  one  with  the  Father,  and  to 
be  Himself  the  only  God ;  in  the  second  heaven 
are  those  who  give  up  their  many  wives,  and  live 
with  one  wife ;  and  in  the  lowest  those  who  are 
being  initiated.  More  about  this  religion  may  be 
seen  in  the  Continuation  concerning  the  Last  Judg- 
ment and  concerning  the  Spiritual  World  (n.  68-72), 
where  the  Mohammedans  and  Mohammed  are 
treated  of. 

256*  (iii.)  The  merely  natural  man  confirms 
himself  against  the  Divine  providence  when  he  sees 
that  the  Christian  religion  is  accepted  only  in  the 
smaller  division  of  the  habitable  globe  called  Europe, 
and  is  there  divided. — The  Christian  religion  is  ac- 
cepted only  in  the  smaller  division  of  the  habita- 
ble globe  called  Europe  because  it  was  not  adapted 
to  the  genius  of  the  Orientals,  like  the  Mohammed- 
an religion,  which  is  a  mixed  religion,  as  has  been 
shown  just  above;  and  a  religion  that  is  not  adapt- 
ed is  not  accepted.  For  example,  a  religion  that 
makes  it  unlawful  to  marry  more  than  one  wife  is 
not  accepted  but  is  rejected  by  those  who  for  ages 


352  THE  TW/NE  'PROWDENCE 

have  been  polygamists.  The  same  is  true  of  other 
ordinances  of  the  Christian  religion. 

Nor  does  it  matter  whether  a  smaller  or  a 
greater  part  of  the  world  has  accepted  that  relig- 
ion, provided  there  are  peoples  that  have  the  Word  ; 
for  those  have  light  therefrom  who  are  outside  of 
the  church  and  do  not  have  the  Word,  as  is  shown 
in  the  Doctrine  of  the  New  Jerusalem  concerning 
the  Sacred  Scripture  (n.  104-113);  and  what  is 
wonderful,  where  the  Word  is  read  reverently  and 
the  Lord  is  worshipped  from  the  Word  the  Lord 
with  heaven  is  present.  This  is  because  the  Lord 
is  the  Word,  and  the  Word  is  Divine  truth  which 
makes  heaven  ;  therefore  the  Lord  says  : 

"Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  My  name, 
there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them  "  (Matt,  xviii.  20). 

This  may  take  place  with  the  Word  in  many  parts 
of  the  habitable  world  with  Europeans,  because 
their  commerce  extends  over  the  whole  earth,  and 
everywhere  the  Word  is  read  by  them,  or  there 
is  teaching  from  the  Word.  This  seems  like  a 
fabrication,  and  yet  it  is  true. 

The  Christian  religion  is  divided  for  the  reason 
that  it  is  from  the  Word,  and  the  Word  is  written 
throughout  wholly  by  correspondences,  and  the  cor- 
respondences are  in  great  part  appearances  of 
truth,  within  which,  however,  genuine  truths  are 
hidden.  And  as  the  doclrine  of  the  church  must 
be  drawn  from  the  sense  of  the  letter  of  the  Word, 
and  that  sense  is  such,  there  must  needs  spring 


CHAPTER  XIII.,  N.  256  553 

up  in  the  church  disputes,  controversies,  and  dis- 
sensions, especially  in  regard  to  the  understanding 
of  the  Word,  but  not  in  regard  to  the  Word  itself 
and  in  regard  to  the  Lord's  Divine  itself;  for  it 
is  everywhere  acknowledged  that  the  Word  is  holy, 
and  that  Divinity  belongs  to  the  Lord ;  and  these 
two  are  the  essentials  of  the  church.  For  this 
reason  those  who  deny  the  Lord's  Divinity,  who 
are  called  Socinians,  have  been  excommunicated 
by  the  church ;  and  those  who  deny  the  holiness 
of  the  Word  are  not  regarded  as  Christians. 

To  this  I  will  add  a  noteworthy  facl:  in  regard 
to  the  Word,  from  which  it  may  be  concluded  that 
the  Word  interiorly  is  the  Divine  truth  itself,  and 
inmostly  is  the  Lord.  Whenever  any  spirit  opens 
the  Word,  and  rubs  his  face  or  his  clothing  against 
it,  his  face  or  clothing  shines  from  the  mere  rubbing, 
as  brightly  as  the  moon  or  a  star,  and  this  in  the 
sight  of  all  whom  he  meets.  This  is  a  proof  that 
nothing  exists  in  the  world  more  holy  than  theWord. 
That  the  Word  is  written  throughout  wholly  in 
correspondences  may  be  seen  in  the  DoElrine  of 
the  New  Jerusalem  concerning  the  Sacred  Script- 
ure (n.  5-26).  That  the  doctrine  of  the  church 
must  be  drawn  from  the  sense  of  the  letter  of  the 
Word  and  established  by  it  (see  n.  50-61  of  the 
same  work).  That  heresies  may  be  extorted  fiom 
the  sense  of  the  letter  of  the  Word,  but  that  it  is 
destructive  to  confirm  them  (n.  91-97).  That  the 
church  is  from  the  Word,  and  is  such  as  its  un- 
derstanding of  the  Word  is  (n.  76-79). 


354  THE  rDIYlNE  PROVIDENCE 


257*  (iv.)  The  merely  natural  man  confirms 
himself  against  the  Divine  providence  by  the  fact 
that  in  ma?iy  of  the  kingdoms  where  the  Christian 
religion  is  accepted  there  are  some  who  claim  for 
themselves  Divine  power,  and  wish  to  be  worshipped 
as  gods,  and  invoke  the  dead.  —  They  say1,  indeed, 
that  they  have  not  arrogated  to  themselves  Divine 
po\ver,  and  do  not  wish  to  be  worshipped  as  gods  ; 
and  yet  they  declare  that  they  can  open  and  close 
heaven,  remit  and  retain  sins,  and  therefore  save 
and  condemn  men  ;  and  this  is  Divinity  itself.  For 
the  Divine  providence  has  for  its  end  nothing  else 
than  reformation  and  consequent  salvation  ;  this  is 
its  unceasing  operation  with  everyone;  and  salva- 
tion can  be  accomplished  only  through  an  acknow- 
ledgment of  the  Divinity  of  the  Lord,  and  a  con- 
fidence that  the  Lord  effects  salvation  when  man 
lives  according  to  His  commandments. 

Who  cannot  see  that  this  is  the  Babylon  de- 
scribed in  the  Apocalypse  ;  also  that  it  is  the  Bab- 
ylon spoken  of  everywhere  in  the  prophets?  It  is 
also  the  "  Lucifer  "  spoken  of  in  Isaiah  xiv.,  as  is 
evident  from  the  verses  of  that  chapter,  in  which 
are  these  words  : 

"  Thou  shalt  take  up  this  proverb  against  the  king  of 

Babylon  "  (verse  4)  ; 
"  And  then  I  will  cut  off  from  Babylon  name  and  rem- 

nant "  (verse  22)  ; 

from  which  it  follows  that  Babylon  there  is  Lucifer 
of  whom  it  is  said, 


CHAPTER   XII I.,  N.  257  355 

"  How  art  thou  fallen  from  heaven,  O  Lucifer,  son  of  the 
morning  ! . . . .  And  thou  saidst  in  thy  heart,  I  will  as- 
cend into  heaven  ;  I  will  exalt  my  throne  above  the 
stars  of  God ;  and  I  will  sit  upon  the  mount  of  the 
congregation,  in  the  sides  of  the  north  ;  I  will  ascend 
above  the  heights  of  the  clouds  ;  I  will  become  like 
the  Most  High  "  (verses  12-14). 

That  they  invoke  the  dead  and  pray  to  the  dead 
for  help  is  known.  They  may  be  said  to  invoke 
the  dead,  inasmuch  as  invocation  of  the  dead  was 
established  by  a  papal  bull  confirming  the  decree 
of  the  Council  of  Trent,  in  which  it  is  plainly  de- 
clared that  the  dead  are  to  be  invoked.  Yet 
everyone  knows  that  God  alone  should  be  invoked, 
and  not  any  dead  person. 

It  shall  now  be  told  why  the  Lord  has  permitted 
such  things.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  He  has  per- 
mitted them  for  the  sake  of  the  end,  which  is  salva- 
tion. For  it  is  known  that  apart  from  the  Lord 
there  is  no  salvation  ;  and  it  was  for  this  reason 
necessary  that  the  Lord  should  be  preached  from 
the  Word,  and  that  the  Christian  church  should  by 
that  means  be  established.  But  this  could  be  done 
only  by  an  advance  guard  who  would  do  this  with 
zeal ;  and  none  would  do  this  except  those  who 
were  in  an  ardor  resembling  zeal  that  was  from  the 
fire  of  self-love.  By  such  a  fire  they  were  at  first 
stined  up  to  preach  the  Lord  and  to  teach  the 
Word ;  and  it  was  because  of  this  their  first  state 
that  Lueifer  was  called  "the  son  of  the  morning" 
(verse  12).  But  as  they  saw  that  they  could  gain 
dominion  by  means  of  the  holy  things  of  the  Word 


?56  THE  1)1VINE  ^PROVIDENCE 

and  the  church,  the  love  of  self,  by  which  they 
were  first  stirred  up  to  preach  the  Lord,  broke  forth 
from  within,  and  finally  exalted  itself  to  such  a 
height  that  they  transferred  to  themselves  the  whole 
of  the  Lord's  Divine  power,  leaving  nothing. 

This  could  not  have  been  prevented  by  the 
Lord's  Divine  providence ;  for  if  it  had  been  pre- 
vented they  would  have  publicly  taught  that  the 
Lord  is  not  God,  and  that  the  Word  is  not  holy, 
and  would  have  made  themselves  Socinians  or 
Arians,  and  thus  would  have  destroyed  the  whole 
church,  which,  whatever  may  be  the  character  of 
its  rulers,  continues  to  exist  with  the  submissive 
people ;  for  all  those  of  this  religion  who  approach 
the  Lord  and  shun  evils  as  sins  are  saved,  conse- 
quently there  are  many  heavenly  societies  of  such 
in  the  spiritual  world.  It  has  also  been  provided 
that  among  them  there  should  be  a  nation  that 
has  not  passed  under  the  yoke  of  such  domination, 
and  that  holds  the  Word  to  be  holy ;  this  is  the 
noble  French  nation.  But  what  has  been  done? 

When  the  love  of  self  exalted  its  dominion  even 
to  the  Lord's  throne,  set  Him  aside,  and  placed 
itself  thereon,  that  love,  which  is  Lucifer,  could  not 
but  profane  all  things  of  the  Word  and  the  church. 
That  this  might  be  prevented,  the  Lord  by  His 
Divine  providence  took  care  that  they  should  with- 
draw from  the  worship  of  Himself,  and  should  in- 
voke the  dead,  should  pray  to  images  of  the  dead, 
should  kiss  their  bones,  and  bow  down  at  their 
tombs,  should  forbid  the  reading  of  the  Word, 


CHAPTER   XIII. ,  N.  258  357 

should  place  holy  worship  in  masses  not  under- 
stood by  the  common  people,  and  sell  salvation 
for  money;  because  if  they  had  not  done  these 
things  they  would  have  profaned  the  holy  things 
of  the  Word  and  of  the  church.  For  only  those 
who  have  a  knowledge  of  holy  things  can  profane 
them,  as  has  been  shown  just  before. 

So  to  prevent  their  profaning  the  most  Holy 
Supper  they  were  permitted,  under  the  Lord's  Di- 
vine providence,  to  divide  it,  and  to  give  the  bread 
to  the  people  and  drink  the  wine  themselves,  for 
the  wine  in  the  Holy  Supper  signifies  holy  truth 
and  the  bread  holy  good ;  but  when  •  the.se  are 
separated  the  wine  signifies  profaned  truth  and  the 
bread  adulterated  good  ;  and  still  further,  they  were 
permitted  to  make  it  corporeal  and  material,  and 
to  adopt  this  as  the  primary  principle  of  religion. 
Any  one  who  turns  his  mind  to  these  several  things 
and  considers  them  with  some  enlightenment  of 
mind  can  see  the  wonderful  activities  of  the  Divine 
providence  in  guarding  the  holy  things  of  the 
church,  in  saving  all  that  can  be  saved,  and  in 
snatching  from  the  fire,  as  it  were,  those  who  are 
willing  to  be  rescued. 

258.  (v.)  The  merely  natural  man  confirms 
himself  against  the  Divine  providence  by  the  fac~l 
that  among  those  who  profess  the  Christian  religion 
there  are  some  who  place  salvation  in  certain  phrases 
which  they  must  think  and  talk  about,  making  no 
account  of  the  good  works  they  must  do. — That 


358  THE  fDIl/INE 

there  are  those  that  make  faith  alone  saving,  and 
not  a  life  of  charity,  and  in  consequence  separate 
faith  from  charity,  is  shown  in  the  Doctrine  of  the 
New  Jerusalem  concerning  Faith;  and  there  it  is 
also  shown  that  such  are  meant  in  the  Word  by 
"Philistines,"  by  the  "dragon,"  and  by  "goats." 

Such  docTrine  also  has  been  permitted  under  the 
Divine  providence  in  order  that  the  Divine  of  the 
Lord  and  the  holiness  of  the  Word  might  not  be 
profaned.  The  Divine  of  the  Lord  is  not  profaned 
when  salvation  is  placed  in  the  words,  "That  God 
the  Father  may  be  merciful  for  the  sake  of  His 
Son,  who  "endured  the  cross  and  made  satisfaction 
for  us ;"  for  in  this  way  the  Divine  of  the  Lord  is 
not  approached,  but  the  Human,  which  is  not  ac- 
knowledged as  Divine.  Nor  is  the  Word  profaned, 
for  they  pay  no  attention  to  the  passages  where 
love,  charity,  doing,  and  works  are  mentioned. 
They  claim  that  these  are  all  included  in  a  belief  in 
the  formula  just  quoted  ;  and  those  who  confirm 
this  say  to  themselves,  "  The  law  does  not  condemn 
me,  so  neither  does  evil ;  and  good  does  not  save 
me,  because  the  good  from  me  is  not  good."  These, 
therefore,  are  like  those  who  have  no  knowledge  of 
truth  from  the  Word,  and  thus  cannot  profane  it. 
But  belief  in  the  above  statement  is  confirmed  by 
those  only  who  from  the  love  of  self  are  in  the 
pride  of  their  own  intelligence.  Such  are  not 
Christians  at  heart,  but  only  wish  to  seem  so. 

It  shall  now  be  explained  how  the  Lord's  Di- 
vine providence  is,  nevertheless,  unceasingly  work- 


CHAPTER   XIII.,  N.  258  359 

ing  for  the  salvation  of  those  in  whom  faith  sep- 
arate from  charity  has  become  a  matter  of  religion. 
It  is  of  the  Lord's  Divine  providence  that,  although 
that  faith  has  come  to  belong  to  religion,  yet  every 
one  knows  that  it  is  not  that  faith  that  saves,  but  a 
life  of  charity  with  which  faith  acts  as  one ;  for  in ' 
all  churches  where  that  religion  is  accepted  it  is 
taught  that  there  is  no  salvation  unless  man  exam- 
ines himself,  sees  his  sins,  acknowledges  them,  re- 
pents, refrains  from  them,  and  enters  on  a  new  life. 
This  is  proclaimed  with  great  zeal  in  the  presence 
of  all  who  are  coming  to  the  Lord's  Supper ;  and 
to  this  is  added,  that  unless  they  do  this  they  mix 
what  is  holy  with  what  is  profane,  and  hurl  them- 
selves into  eternal  damnation  ;  and  in  England  it 
is  taught  even  that  unless  they  do  this  the  devil 
will  enter  into  them  as  he  entered  into  Judas,  and 
will  destroy  them  both  soul  and  body.  From  all 
this  it  is  clear  that  even  in  the  churches  where  the 
doctrine  of  faith  alone  has  been  adopted  everyone 
is  still  taught  that  evils  must  be  shunned  as  sins. 

Furthermore,  everyone  who  is  born  a  Christian 
knows  that  evils  must  be  shunned  as  sins,  because 
the  decalogue  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  every  boy 
and  every  girl,  and  is  taught  them  by  parents  and 
teachers  ;  also  all  citizens  of  the  kingdom,  especially 
the  common  people,  are  examined  by  a  priest  from 
the  decalogue  alone,  recited  from  memory,  as  to 
their  knowledge  of  the  Christian  religion  ;  and  are 
counselled  to  do  the  things  there  commanded.  It 
is  then  never  said  by  any  priest  that  they  are  under 


360  THE  THVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

the  yoke  of  law,  or  that  they  cannot  do  the  things 
commanded  because  they  can  do  no  good  from 
themselves.  Moreover,  the  Athanasian  Creed  has 
been  accepted  throughout  the  Christian  world,  and 
what  is  said  in  it  at  the  end  is  acknowledged, 
"  namely,  that  the  Lord  shall  come  to  judge  the  liv- 
ing and  the  dead,  and  then  those  that  have  done 
good  shall  enter  into  life  eternal,  and  those  that 
have  done  evil  into  everlasting  fire. 

In  Sweden,  where  the  religion  of  faith  alone  has 
been  adopted,  it  is  also  plainly  taught  that  a  faith 
separate  from  charity  or  without  good  works  is  im- 
possible. This  is  found  in  a  certain  appendix  con- 
taining things  to  be  kept  in  remembrance,  attached 
to  all  their  psalm  books,*  called  "Hindrances  or 
Stumbling-blocks  of  the  Impenitent  ( Obotfardigas 
forhinder)"  In  it  are  these  words :  "  They  that 
are  rich  in  good  works  thereby  show  that  they 
are  rich  in  faith,  since  when  faith  is  saving  it  oper- 
ates through  charity ;  for  justifying  faith  never  ex- 
ists alone  and  separate  from  good  works,  just  as 
there  can  be  no  good  tree  without  fruit,  or  a  sun 
without  light  and  heat,  or  water  without  moisture." 

These  few  statements  are  made  to  show  that 
although  a  religion  of  faith  alone  has  been  adopted, 
goods  of  charity,  which  are  good  works,  are  never- 
theless everywhere  taught ;  and  that  this  is  of  the 
Lord's  Divine  providence,  that  ffie  common  people 
may  not  be  led  astray  by  it.  I  have  heard  Luther, 

*  This  appendix  was  omitted  in  the  revision  of  the  psalm  book 
made  in  1819. 


CHAPTER  XIII.,  N.  259  361 

with  whom  I  have  sometimes  talked  in  the  spirit- 
ual world,  execrating  faith  alone,  and  saying  that 
when  he  established  it  he  was  warned  by  an  angel 
of  the  Lord  not  to  do  it ;  but  that  his  thought  was 
that  unless  works  were  rejected  no  separation  from 
the  Catholic  religion  could  be  effected  ;  and  there- 
fore, contrary  to  the  warning,  he  established  that 
faith. 

259.  (vi.)  The  merely  natural  man  confirms 
himself  against  the  Divine  providence  by  the  fact 
that  there  have  been  and  still  are  so  many  heresies 
in  the  Christian  world,  such  as  Quakerism,  Mora- 
vianism,  Anabaptism,  and  others, — For  he  may 
think  to  himself,  If  the  Divine  providence  were 
universal  in  its  least  particulars,  and  had  the  salva- 
tion of  all  as  its  end,  it  would  have  caused  one  true 
religion  to  exist  throughout  the  world,  and  that  one 
not  divided,  still  less  torn  into  heresies.  But  make 
use  of  your  reason,  and  think  more  deeply,  if  you 
can,  whether  a  man  can  be  saved  unless  he  is  pre- 
viously reformed.  For  he  is  born  into  the  love  of 
self  and  love  of  the  world  ;  and  as  these  loves  do 
not  carry  in  them  anything  of  love  to  God  or  of 
love  towards  the  neighbor  except  for  the  sake  of 
self,  he  has  been  born  also  into  evils  of  every  kind. 
What  is  there  of  love  or  mercy  in  these  loves  ? 
Does  he  [from  these  loves]  think  anything  of  de- 
frauding another,  defaming  him,  hating  him  even  to 
the  death,  committing  adultery  with  his  wife,  being 
cruel  to  him  when  moved  by  revenge,  while  cher- 


362  THE  T»/K/N£   TROVIDENCE 


ishing  a  wish  to  be  highest  of  all,  and  to  possess 
the  goods  of  all  others,  and  while  regarding  others 
as.  insignificant  and  worthless  compared  with  him- 
self? If  such  a  man  is  to  be  saved  must  he  not 
first  be  led  away  from  these  evils,  and  thus  re- 
formed? This  can  be  done  only  in  accordance 
with  many  laws  which  are  laws  of  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence, as  has  been  shown  above  in  many  places. 
These  laws  are  for  the  most  part  unknown  ;  never- 
theless, they  are  laws  of  the  Divine  wisdom  and  at 
the  same  time  of  the  Divine  love,  and  the  Lord 
cannot  a6l  contrary  to  them,  because  to  do  so 
would  be  to  destroy  man,  not  to  save  him. 

Let  the  laws  that  have  been  set  forth  be  re- 
viewed and  compared,  and  you  will  see.  Since, 
then,  it  is  in  accordance  with  these  laws  that  there 
is  no  immediate  influx  from  heaven,  but  only  med- 
iate influx  through  the  Word,  doctrines,  and  preach- 
ing ;  also,  for  the  Word  to  be  Divine  it  must  needs 
be  written  wholly  by  ,  correspondences  ;  it  follows 
that  discussions  and  heresies  are  inevitable,  and 
that  -permissions  of  these  are  in  accord  with  the 
laws  of  the  Divine  providence.  Furthermore,  when 
the  church  itself  has  taken  as  its  essentials  such 
things  as  belong  to  the  understanding  alone,  that  is, 
to  doclrine,  and  not  such  as  belong  to  the  will, 
that  is,  to  the  life,  and  the  things  that  belong  to 
the  life  are  not  made  the  essentials  of  the  church, 
man  from  his  understanding  is  then  in  mere  dark- 
ness, and  wanders  about  like  a  blind  man,  every- 
where running  against  something  and  falling  into 


CHAPTER   XIII. ,  N.  260  365 

pits.  For  the  will  must  see  in  the  understanding, 
and  not  the  understanding  in  the  will  ;  or  what  is 
the  same,  the  life  and  its  love  must  lead  the  un- 
derstanding to  think,  speak,  and  acl,  and  not  the 
reverse.  If  the  reverse  were  true,  the  understand- 
ing, from  an  evil  and  even  a  diabolical  love,  might 
seize  upon  whatever  presents  itself  through  the 
senses,  and  enjoin  the  will  to  do  it.  From  all  this 
the  source  of  dissensions  and  heresies  can  be  seen. 
And  yet  it  has  been  provided  that  every  one,  in 
whatever  heresies  he  may  be  in  respect  to  the  un- 
derstanding, can  be  reformed  and  saved,  if  only  he 
shuns  evils  as  sins,  and  does  not  confirm  heretical 
falsities  in  himself;  for  by  shunning  evils  as  sins 
the  will  is  reformed,  and  through  the  will  the  un- 
derstanding, which  then  first  emerges  from  dark, 
ness  into  light.  There  are  three  essentials  of  the 
church,  an  acknowledgment  of  the  Divine  of  the 
Lord,  an  acknowledgment  of  the  holiness  of  the 
Word,  and  the  life  that  is  called  charity.  Accord- 
ing to  the  life  which  is  charity  is  every  one's  faith  ; 
from  the  Word  comes  the  knowledge  of  what  the 
life  must  be,  and  from  the  Lord  are  reformation 
and  salvation.  If  the  church  had  held  these  three 
as  essentials  it  would  not  have  been  divided,  but 
only  varied,  by  intellectual  dissensions,  as  light  va- 
ries its  color  in  beautiful  objecls,  and  as  various 
circlets  give  beauty  in  the  crown  of  a  king. 

260.    (vii.)  The  merely  natural  man  confirms 
himself  against  the  Divine  proridence  by  the  f aft 


364  THE  ^DIVINE  TROflDENCE 

that  Judaism  still  continues. — In  other  words,  the 
Jews  after  so  many  centuries  have  not  been  con- 
verted, although  they  live  among  Christians,  and 
do  not,  as  the  Word  predicts,  confess  the  Lord 
and  acknowledge  Him  to  be  the  Messiah,  who,  as 
they  think,  was  to  lead  them  back  to  the  land  of 
Canaan,  but  constantly  persist  in  denying  Him ; 
and  yet  it  is  well  with  them.  But  those  who  so 
think,  and  who  therefore  call  in  question  the  Di- 
vine providence,  do  not  know  that  by  "Jews"  in 
the  Word  all  who  are  of  the  church  and  who  ac- 
knowledge the  Lord  are  meant;  and  by  "the  land 
of  Canaan,"  into  which  it  is  said  that  they  are  to 
be  led,  the  Lord's  church  is  meant. 

But  the  Jews  persist  in  denying  the  Lord,  because 
they  are  such  that  they  would  profane  the  Divinity 
of  the  Lord  and  the  holy  things  of  His  church  if 
they  were  to  accept  and  acknowledge  them.  Con- 
sequently the  Lord  says  of  them, 

"  He  hath  blinded  their  eyes  and  hardened  their  heart, 
lest  they  should  see  with  their  eyes  and  understand 
with  their  heart,  and  should  turn  themselves,  and  I 
should  heal  them  "  {John  xii.  40 ;  Matt.  xiii.  15  ;  Mark 
iv.  12  ;  Luke  viii.  10 ;  Isa.  vi.  9,  10). 

It  is  said  "lest  they  should  turn  themselves  and  I 
should  heal  them,"  because  if  they  had  been  turned 
and  healed  they  would  have  committed  profana- 
tion ;  and  it  is  according  to  the  law  of  Divine  pro- 
vidence (treated  of  above,  n.  221-223)  that  no  one 
is  admitted  by  the  Lord  interiorly  into  truths  of 
faith  and  goods  of  chanty  except  so  far  as  he  can 


CHAPTER   XIII.,  N.  262  365 

be  kept  in  them  until  the  end  of  his  life,  and  if  he 
were  admitted  he  would  profane  what  is  holy. 

That  nation  has  been  preserved  and  has  been 
scattered  over  a  great  part  of  the  world  for  the 
sake  of  the  Word  in  its  original  language,  which 
they,  more  than  Christians,  hold  sacred  ;  and  the 
Lord's  Divinity  is  in  every  particular  of  the  Word, 
for  that  which  goes  forth  from  the  Lord  is  Divine 
truth  united  to  Divine  good,  and  by  this  the  Word 
becomes  a  conjunction  of  the  Lord  with  the  church 
and  the  presence  of  heaven  [with  man],  as  has  been 
shown  in  the  DoElrine  of  the  New  Jerusalem  con- 
cerning the  Sacred  Scripture  (n.  62-69)  ;  and  there 
is  a  presence  of  the  Lord  and  of  heaven  wherever 
the  Word  is  read  with  reverence.  Such  is  the  end 
in  the  Divine  providence,  for  the  sake  of  which  the 
Jews  have  been  preserved  and  scattered  over  a 
great  part  of  the  world.  What  their  lot  is  after 
death  may  be  seen  in  the  Continuation  concerning 
the  Last  Judgment  and  the  Spiritual  World  (n. 
79-82). 

261.  These  now  are  the  points  set  forth  above 
(n.  238)    by  which    the   natural   man    confirms   or 
may  confirm  himself  against  the  Divine  providence. 
There  are  yet  other  points  mentioned  above  (in  n. 
239),  that  may  serve  the  natural  man  as  arguments 
against  the  Divine  providence,  and  may  occur  to 
the    minds    of    others,    and    excite    some    doubts. 
These  will  now  follow. 

262.  (i.)  A  doubt  may  arise  in   opposition  to 


366  THE  ^lyiNE  TROYIDENCE 


the  Divine  providence  from  the  fact  that  the  whole 
Christian  world  worships  one  God  under  three  per- 
sons, which  is  to  worship  three  Gods,  not  knowing 
hitherto  that  God  is  one  in  person  and  essence,  in 
whom  is  a  trinity,  and  that  the  Lord  is  that  God. 
—  One  who  reasons  about  the  Divine  providence 
may  ask,  Are  not  three  persons  three  Gods  when 
each  person  by  Himself  is  God?  Who  can  think 
otherwise?  Who,  indeed,  does  think  otherwise? 
Athanasius  himself  could  not  ;  therefore  in  the 
creed  that  has  its  name  from  him  it  is  said  : 

"Although  from  Christian  verity  we  ought  to  ac- 
knowledge each  person  to  be  God  and  Lord,  yet  from 
the  Christian  faith  it  is  not  allowable  to  speak  of  or  to 
name  three  Gods  and  three  Lords." 

Nothing  else  can  be  meant  by  this  than  that  we 
ought  to  acknowledge  three  Gods  and  Lords,  but 
that  it  is  not  allowable  to  speak  of  or  name  three 
Gods  and  three  Lords. 

Who  can  have  any  perception  of  one  God  unless 
He  is  also  one  in  person  ?  If  it  is  said  that  such  a 
perception  is  possible  if  the  thought  is  that  the 
three  have  one  essence,  is  there  or  can  there  be 
any  other  perception  from  this  than  that  they  are 
thus  one  in  mind  and  feeling,  but  nevertheless  are 
three  Gods?  And  if  one  thinks  more  deeply  he 
says  to  himself,  How  can  the  Divine  essence,  which 
is  infinite,  be  divided?  And  how  can  the  Divine 
essence  from  eternity  beget  another,  and  still  fur- 
ther bring  forth  another  that  proceeds  from  both? 
If  it  is  said  that  this  is  to  be  believed  but  not 


CHAPTER   XIII.,  N.  262  367 

thought  about,  who  can  help  thinking  about  that 
which  he  is  told  must  be  believed?  From  what 
other  source  is  that  acknowledgment,  which  is  faith 
in  its  essence?  Have  not  Socinianism  and  Arian- 
ism,  which  reign  in  more  hearts  than  you  believe, 
arisen  from  the  thought  of  God  as  three  persons  ? 
Belief  in  one  God,  and  that  the  Lord  is  the  one 
God,  constitutes  the  church  ;  for  the  Divine  trinity 
is  in  Him.  That  this  is  true  may  be  seen  in  the 
Doclrine  of  the  New  Jerusalem  concerning  the  Lord, 
from  beginning  to  end. 

But  what  is  the  thought  respecting  the  Lord  at 
the  present  day?  Is  it  not  a  thought  that  He  is 
God  and  Man,  God  from  Jehovah  the  Father  from 
whom  He  was  conceived,  and  Man  from  the  Vir- 
gin Mary  of  whom  He  was  born  ?  Who  thinks 
that  God  and  Man  in  Him,  or  His  Divine  and  His 
Human,  are  one  person,  and  are  one  as  soul  and 
body  are  one.  Does  any  one  know  this?  Ask 
the  doctors  of  the  church,  and  they  will  say  that 
they  have  not  known  it ;  and  yet  it  is  so  stated  in 
the  doclrine  of  the  church  accepted  throughout  the 
Christian  world,  which  is  as  follows  : 

"  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  is  God 
and  Man  ;  and  although  He  be  God  and  Man  yet  He 
is  not  two,  but  one  Christ ;  one  because  the  Divine 
took  to  itself  the  Human  ;  yea,  wholly  one,  for  He  is 
one  person ;  for  as  soul  and  body  make  one  man  so 
God  and  Man  is  one  Christ." 

This  is  from  the  Faith  or  Creed  of  Athanasius. 
They  have  not  known  this,  for  the  reason  that  in 


368  THE  <T)IVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

reading  it  they  have  not  thought  of  the  Lord  as 
God,  but  only  as  a  man. 

If  such  are  asked  whether  they  know  from  whom 
He  was  conceived,  whether  from  God  the  Father  or 
from  His  own  Divine,  they  will  answer  that  He  was 
conceived  from  God  the  Father,  for  this  is  according 
to  Scripture.  Then  are  not  the  Father  and  Himself 
one>  as  the  soul  and  the  body  are  one  ?  Who  can 
possibly  think  that  He  was  conceived  from  two 
Divines,  and  if  from  His  own  that  that  was  His 
Father  ?  If  they  are  asked  further  what  their  idea 
is  of  the  Lord's  Divine  and  of  his  Human,  they  will 
say  that  His  Divine  is  from  the  essence  of  the  Fa- 
ther and  the  Human  from  the  essence  of  the  mother, 
and  that  His  Divine  is  with  the  Father.  If  you  then 
ask  where  his  Human  is  they  will  make  no  reply  ; 
for  they  separate  in  their  thought  His  Divine  and 
His  Human,  and  make  the  Divine  equal  to  the  Di- 
vine of  the  Father  and  the  Human  like  the  hu- 
man of  another  man,  and  do  not  know  that  they 
thus  separate  soul  and  body  ;  nor  do  they  see  the 
contradiction  that  He  would  thus  have  been  born  a 
rational  man  from  a  mother  alone. 

From  the  established  idea  respecting  the  Lord's 
Human,  that  it  was  like  the  human  of  another  man, 
it  has  come  to  pass  that  a  Christian  can  scarcely 
be  led  to  think  of  a  Divine  Human,  even  when  it 
is  said  that  the  Lord's  soul  or  life  from  conception 
was  Jehovah  Himself.  Gather  up  the  reasons,  then, 
and  consider  whether  there  is  any  other  God  of  the 
universe  than  the  Lord  alone,  in  whom  the  essential 


CHAPTER    XIII.,  N.  262  369 

Divine,  from  which  are  all  things,  is  that  which  is 
called  the  Father,  the  Divine  Human  is  that  which 
is  called  the  Son,  and  the  Divine  going  forth  is 
called  the  Holy  Spirit ;  thus  that  God  is  one  in 
person  and  in  essence,  and  that  the  Lord  is  that 
God. 

If  you  persist,  saying  that  the  Lord  Himself 
mentions  three  in  Matthew : 

"  Go  ye  and  make  disciples  of  all  nations,  baptizing  them 
into  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Spirit "  ^xxviii.  19), 

yet  it  is  clear  from  the  verse  immediately  preceding 
and  from  that  immediately  following,  that  He  said 
this  to  make  known  that  in  Himself  now  glorified 
there  is  a  Divine  trinity.  In  the  preceding  verse 
He  says  that  all  power  is  given  to  Him  in  heaven 
and  upon  earth  ;  and  in  the  following  verse  He 
says  that  He  would  be  with  them  until  the  end  of 
the  age ;  thus  speaking  of  Himself  alone,  and  not 
of  three. 

Now  as  regards  Divine  providence,  why  it  has 
permitted  Christians  to  worship  one  God  under 
three  persons,  that  is,  to  worship  three  Gods,  and 
why  they  have  hitherto  not  known  that  God  is  one 
in  person  and  in  essence,  in  whom  is  the  trinity, 
and  that  the  Lord  is  this  God.  Of  this  man  him- 
self, and  not  the  Lord,  is  the  cause.  This  truth  the 
Lord  has  taught  clearly  in  His  Word,  as»  can  be 
seen  from  all  the  passages  quoted  in  the  Doftrine 
of  the  New  Jerusalem  concerning  the  Lord.  He 


?70  THE  *D/K/N£   VRCI/IDENCE 

has  also  taught  it  in  the  doctrine  of  all  the  church- 
es, in  which  it  is  stated  that  His  Divine  and  His 
Human  are  not  two  but  one  person,  united  like 
soul  and  body. 

The  first  cause  of  their  dividing  the  Divine  and 
the  Human,  and  -making  the  Divine  equal  to  the 
Divine  of  Jehovah  the  Father,  and  the  Human 
equal  to  the  human  of  another  man,  was  that  the 
church  after  its  rise  degenerated  into  a  Babylon, 
which  transferred  to  itself  the  Lord's  Divine  power  ; 
but  lest  it  be  called  Divine  power,  and  not  human 
power,  they  made  the  Lord's  Human  like  the  hu- 
man of  another  man.  Afterwards,  when  the  church 
was  reformed,  and  faith  alone  was  adopted  as  the 
sole  means  of  salvation  (the  faith  that  God  the 
Father  has  mercy  for  the  sake  of  the  Son),  this 
way  of  regarding  the  Lord's  Human  could  not  be 
changed,  for  the  reason  that  no  one  can  go  to  the 
Lord  and  in  heart  acknowledge  Him  to  be  the  God 
of  heaven  and  earth  until  he  is  ready  to  live  ac- 
cording to  His  precepts.  In  the  spiritual  world, 
where  all  are  obliged  to  speak  as  they  think,  no 
one  can  even  mention  the  name  Jesus  unless  he 
has  lived  in  the  world  as  a  Christian.  This  is  of 
His  Divine  providence  lest  His  name  be  profaned. 

263.  But  that  all  this  that  has  been  said  may 
be  still  more  clear  I  will  add  what  has  been  said  at 
the  end  of  the  Doctrine  of  the  New  Jerusalem 
concerning  the  Lord  (n.  60,  61),  which  is  as  follows  : 

"  That  God  and  Man  in  the  Lord,  according  to  the 
doctrine  [of  the  creed],  are  not  two,  but  one  person, 


CHAPTER  XIII.,  N.  26}  37 1 

and  wholly  one  as  the  soul  -and  the  body  are  one,  is 
clearly  evident  from  many  things  that  He  said,  as, 
That  the  Father  and  He  are  one ;  That  all  things  of 
the  Father  are  His,  and  all  His  are  the  Father's ;  That 
He  is  in  the  Father,  and  the  Father  in  Him  ;  That  all 
things  have  been  given  into  His  hand  ;  That  He  has 
all  power;  That  He  is  the  God  of  heaven  and  eaith; 
That  whosoever  believes  in  Him  has  eternal  life  ;  and 
that  whosoever  does  not  believe  in  Him,  upon  him  the 
wrath  of  God  abides  ;  and  further,  that  both  the  Di- 
vine and  the  Human  were  taken  up  into  heaven,  and 
that  in  respect  to  both  He  sits  at  the  right  hand  of 
God,  that  is,  that  He  is  almighty;  and  many  more 
things  that  have  been  cited  above  in  great  abund- 
ance from  the  Word  respecting  His  Divine  Human  ; 
all  of  which  testify  that  God  is  one  both  in  person  and 
in  essence,  in  whom  is  a  trinity,  and  that  the  Lord  is 
that  God. 

These  things  respecting  the  Lord  are  now  for  the 
first  time  published  because  it  has  been  foretold  in  the 
Apocalypse  (chapters  xxi.  and  xxii.)  that  a  new  church 
would  be  instituted  at  the  end  of  the  former  church 
in  which  this  doctrine  would  be  primary.  It  is  this 
church  that  is  there  meant  by  "the  New  Jerusalem," 
into  which  none  can  enter  except  those  that  acknow- 
ledge the  Lord  alone  as  tr/e  God  of  heaven  and  earth ; 
and  this  is  why  that  church  is  there  called  "  the  Lamb's 
wife."  And  I  am  able  to  announce  that  the  entire 
heaven  acknowledges  the  Lord  alone,  and  that  who- 
ever does  not  acknowledge  Him  is  not  admitted  into 
heaven,  for  heaven  is  heaven  from  the  Lord.  This  ac- 
knowledgment itself,  from  love  and  faith,  causes  men 
to  be  in  the  Lord  and  the  Lord  in  them,  as  He  Him- 
self teaches  in  John : 

'  In  that  day  ye  shall  krtow  that  I  am  in  My  Father,  and  ye 
in  Me,  and  I  in  you'  (xiv.  20) : 

again,  in  the  same, 

'  Abide  in  Me  and  I  in  you I   am   the  Vine,  ye  are   the 


372  THE  1)IYINE 

branches ;  he  that  abideth  in  Me  and  I  in  him,  the  same 
beareth  much  fruit,  for  apart  from  Me  ye  can  do  nothing. 
If  a  man  abide  not  in  Me  he  is  cast  forth '  (xv.  4-6 ;  xvii. 
22,  33). 

This  has  not  been  seen  from  the  Word  before,  be- 
cause if  it  had  been  it  would  not  have  been  accepted, 
for  the  last  judgment  had  not  yet  been  accomplished  ; 
and  before  that  the  power  of  hell  prevailed  over  the 
power  of  heaven  ;  and  man  is  midway  between  heaven 
and  hell.  If,  then,  this  had  been  seen  before,  the  devil, 
that  is,  hell,  would  have  plucked  it  out  of  the  hearts 
of  men  and  would  also  have  profaned  it.  This  state 
of  the  power  of  hell  was  wholly  broken  up  by  the  last 
judgment,  which  has  now  been  accomplished.  Since 
that  judgment,  that  is,  now,  every  man  who  wishes  to 
be  enlightened  and  to  be  wise  can  be." 


264.  (ii.)  A  doubt  may  arise  in  opposition  to 
Divine  providence  from  the  faEl  that  hitherto  men 
have  not  known  that  there  is  a  spiritual  sense  in 
all  the  particulars  of  the  Word,  and  that  Us  holiness 
is  therefrom. — For  a  doubt  may  arise  in  opposition 
to  Divine  providence  when  it  is  asked  why  this 
has  now  been  revealed  for'  the  first  time,  and  why 
it  has  been  revealed  through  this  man  or  that,  and 
not  through  some  primate  of  the  church.  But  it  is 
of  the  Lord's  good  pleasure  whether  this  is  done 
by  a  primate  or  by  the  servant  of  a  primate ;  the 
Lord  ^knows  what  the  one  is  and  what  the  other. 
But  that  sense  of  the  Word  has  not  been  revealed 
before,  (i,)  because  if  it  had  been,  the  church 
would  have  profaned  it,  and  thereby  have  pro- 
faned the  essential  holiness  of  the  Word  ;  (2,)  be- 
cause the  genuine  truths,  in  which  the  spiritual 


CHAPTER   XIII.,  N.  264  373 

sense  of  the  Word  resides,  were  not  revealed  by  the 
Lord  until  the  last  judgment  had  been  accom- 
plished, and  the  new  church  that  is  meant  by  the 
Holy  Jerusalem  was  about  to  be  established  by 
the  Lord.  But  let  these  be  examined  singly. 

First :  The  spiritual  sense  of  the  Word  has  not 
been  revealed  before,  because  if  it  had  been  the 
church  would  have  profaned  it,  and  thereby  have 
profaned  the  essential  holiness  of  the  Word.  Not 
long  after  the  establishment  of  the  church  it  was 
turned  into  a  Babylon,  and  afterwards  into  a  Phil- 
istia ;  and  while  Babylon  acknowledges  the  Word 
it  nevertheless  despises  it,  claiming  that  they  are 
inspired  by.  the  Holy  Spirit  in  their  supreme  judg- 
ment just  as  much  as  the  prophets  were.  They 
acknowledge  the  Word  for  the  sake  of  the  vicar- 
ship  established  on  the  Lord's  words  to  Peter ;  but 
they  despise  the  Word  because  it  does  not  suit 
them.  For  the  same  reason  it  is  taken  away  from 
the  people  and  hidden  in  monasteries,  where  few 
read  it.  Consequently  if  the  spiritual  sense  of  the 
Word,  in  which  the  Lord  and  all  angelic  wisdom 
are  present,  had  been  unveiled,  the  Word  would 
have  been  profaned,  not  alone  as  it  now  is  in  its 
outmosts,  which  are  the  things  contained  in  the 
sense  of  the  letter,  but  also  in  its  inmosts. 

Philistia  also,  by  which  is  meant  faith  separate 
from  charity,  would  have  profaned  the  spiritual 
sense  of  the  Word,  because  it  places  salvation  in 
certain  words  that  they  may  think  and  talk  about, 
and  not  in  the  good  works  they  must  do,  as  has 


374  THE  T>IVINE   'PROVIDENCE 

been  shown  before  ;  thus  not  only  making  that  to 
be  saving  that  is  not  saving,  but  also  separating 
the  understanding  from  the  things  that  are  to  be 
believed.  What  have  such  to  do  with  that  light 
in  which  the  spiritual  sense  of  the  Word  is  ?  Would 
it  not  be  turned  into  darkness?  When  the  nat- 
ural sense  is  turned  into  darkness  what  would  not 
be  done  with  the  spiritual  sense?  Does  any  one 
of  such,  who  has  confirmed  himself  in  faith  sepa- 
rate from  charity  and  in  justification  by  that  alone, 
wish  to  know  what  good  of  life  is,  wish  to  know 
what  love  to  the  Lord  and  towards  the  neighbor  is, 
what  charity  is,  and  what  the  goods  of  chanty  are, 
and  what  good  works  are,  and  doing  them,  or  even 
what  faith  is  in  its  essence,  or  any  genuine  truth 
that  constitutes  it?  Such  write  volumes  confirm- 
ing only  that  which  they  call  faith,  and  claiming 
that  all  the  things  just  mentioned  are  included  in 
that  faith.  From  all  this  it  is  clear  that  if  the  spir- 
itual sense  of  the  Word  had  been  unveiled  before, 
it  would  have  come  to  pass  according  to  the  Lord's 
words  in  Matthew  : 

"  If  thine  eye  be  evil  thy  whole  body  shall  be  darkened. 
If,  therefore,  the  light  that  is  in  thee  becomes  dark- 
ness, how  great  is  that  darkness  !"  (vi.  23,) 

"the  eye,"  in  the  spiritual  sense  of  the  Word, 
meaning  the  understanding. 

Secondly :  The  genuine  truths  in  which  the 
spiritual  sense  of  the  Word  resides  were  not  revealed 
by  the  Lord  iintil  the  last  judgment  had  been  ac- 


CHAPTER   XIII.,  N.  264  375 

complished,  and  the  new  church  that  is  meant  by 
"the  Holy  Jerusalem"  was  about  to  be  established 
by  the  Lord.  It  was  foretold  by  the  Lord  in  the 
Apocalypse  that  when  the  last  judgment  had  been 
accomplished  genuine  truths  would  be  unveiled,  a 
new  church  established,  and  the  spiritual  sense  of 
the  Word  disclosed.  That  the  last  judgment  has 
been  accomplished  is  shown  in  the  treatise  on  the 
Last  Judgment,  again  in  the  Continuation  of  it. 
This,  too,  is  what  is  meant  by  "the  passing  away 
of  the  heaven  and  earth"  {Apoc.  xxi.  i).  That 
genuine  truths  will  then  be  unveiled  is  foretold  in 
these  words  in  the  Apocalypse: 

"  And  He  that  sat  upon  the  throne  said,  Behold  I  make 
all  things  new"  (xxi.  5  ;  also  xix.  17,  18  ;  xxi.  18-21  ; 
xxii.  i,  2) ; 

also  that  the  spiritual  sense  of  the  Word  is  then  to 
be  unveiled  (xix.  11-16),  this  being  meant  by  "  the 
.white  horse,"  upon  which  He  sat  who  was  called  the 
Word  of  God,  and  was  Lord  of  lords  and  King  of 
kings  (see  the  treatise  on  the  White  Horse}.  That 
the  Holy  Jerusalem  means  the  new  church  that 
would  then  be  established  by  the  Lord  may  be 
seen  in  the  Doctrine  of  the  New  Jerusalem  con- 
cerning the  Lord  (n.  62-65),  where  this  is  shown. 

From  all  this  it  is  now  clear  that  the  spiritual 
sense  of  the  Word  was  to  be  revealed  for  a  new 
church  that  will  acknowledge  and  worship  the  Lord 
alone,  and  will  hold  His  Word  to  be  holy,  will  love 
Divine  truths,  and  will  reject  faith  separate  from 


376  THE  <DiriNE  PROVIDENCE 

charity.  But  in  regard  to  this  sense  of  the  Word 
many  things  may  be  seen  in  the  Doctrine  of  the 
New  Jerusalem  concerning  the  Sacred  Scripture 
(n.  5-26,  and  the  following  numbers) ;  namely, 
what  the  spiritual  sense  is  (n.  5-26)  ;•  that  the 
spiritual  sense  is  in  each  thing  and  in  all  things 
of  the  Word  (n.  9—17)  ;  that  it  is  from  the  spirit- 
ual sense  that  the  Word  is  Divinely  inspired,  and 
holy  in  every  word  (n.  18,  19) ;  that  the  spiritual 
sense  has  been  hitherto  unknown,  and  why  it  has 
not  been  revealed  before  (n.  20-25)  ;  that  hereaf- 
ter the  spiritual  sense  will  be  given  only  to  those 
who  are  in  genuine  truths  from  the  Lord  (n.  26). 

From  all  this  it  can  now  be  seen  that  it  is  of 
the  Lord's  Divine  providence  that  the  spiritual 
sense  has  been  hidden  from  the  world  until  the 
present  age,  and  in  the  mean  while  has  been  pre- 
served in  heaven  among  the  angels,  who  derive 
their  wisdom  from  it.  That  sense  was  known  to 
the  ancients  who  lived  before  Moses,  and  was  care- 
fully studied  ;  but  their  posterity  converted  corre- 
spondences, of  which  alone  their  Word  and  their 
religion  therefrom  consisted,  into  idolatries  of  vari- 
ous kinds,  and  the  Egyptians  converted  them  into 
magic,  and  consequently  in  the  Lord's  Divine  pro- 
vidence, the  Word  was  closed  up,  first  with  the 
children  of  Israel  and  afterwards  with  Christians, 
for  the  reasons  given  above ;  and  now  it  is  again 
opened  for  the  Lord's  New  Church. 

265.    (iii.)   A  doubt  may  arise  in  opposition  to 


CHAPTER  XIII.,  N.  265  377 

Divine  providence  from  the  faEl  that  hitherto  men 
have  not  known  that  to  shun  evils  as  sins  is  the 
Christian  religion  itself. — That  this  is  the  Christ- 
ian religion  itself  has  been  shown  in  the  Doftrine 
of  Life  for  the  New  Jerusalem,  from  beginning1  to 
end ;  and  because  faith  separate  from  charity  is  the 
only  obstacle  to  its  adoption  that  also  is  treated 
of.  It  is  said  that  it  is  unknown  that  to  shun  evils 
as  sins  is  the  Christian  religion  itself.  For  it  is  un- 
known to  almost  every  one,  and  yet  is  known  to 
every  one,  as  may  be  seen  above  (n.  258).  It  is 
unknown  to  almost  every  one  because  it  has  been 
blotted  out  by  faith  separated  ;  for  that  faith  affirms 
that  faith  alone  saves,  and  not  any  good  work  or 
good  of  charity;  also  that  they  are  no  longer  under 
the  yoke  of  the  law,  but  free.  Those  who  have 
often  heard  such  things  no  longer  give  any  thought 
to  any  evil  of  life  or  to  any  good  of  life.  More- 
over, every  man  from  his  own  nature  inclines  to 
embrace  this  faith,  and  when  he  has  embraced  it 
he  gives  no  further  thought  to  the  state  of  his  life. 
This  is  why  this  truth  is  unknown. 

That  it  is  unknown  has  been  disclosed  to  me 
in  the  spiritual  world.  I  have  asked  more  than  a 
thousand  new  comers  from  the  world  whether  they 
know  that  to  shun  evils  as  sins  is  religion  itself; 
and  they  said  that  they  did  not  know,  and  that  this 
was  something  new,  not  heard  of  before ;  although 
they  had  heard  that  they  cannot  do  good  of  them- 
selves, and  that  they  are  not  under  the  yoke  of  the 
law.  When  I  asked  whether  they  did  not  know 


?78  T//£  ^DiyiNE  TROYIDENCE 


that  a  man  must  examine  himself,  see  his  sins,  re- 
pent, and  then  begin  a  new  life,  and  that  otherwise 
sins  are  not  remitted,  and  if  sins  are  not  remitted 
men  are  not  saved,  and  reminded  them  that  this 
had  been  read  to  them  in  a  loud  voice  as  often  as 
they  went  to  the  Holy  Supper,  they  replied  that 
they  gave  no  attention  to  these  things,  but  only  to 
this,  that  they  have  remission  of  sins  by  means  of 
the  sacrament  of  the  Supper,  and  that  faith  does 
the  rest  without  their  knowledge. 

Again  I  asked,  Why  have  you  taught  your  child- 
ren the  decalogue  ?  Is  it  not  that  they  might  know 
what  evils  are  sins  to  be  shunned  ;  or  is  it  only 
that  they  might  know  these  things  and  believe,  and 
not  do?  Why,  then,  do  you  say  that  this  is  new? 
To  this  they  have  only  been  able  to  reply  that 
they  know  and  yet  do  not  know  ;  and  that  they 
never  thought  about  the  sixth  commandment  when 
committing  adultery,  or  about  the  seventh  com- 
mandment when  stealing  or  defrauding,  and  so  on  ; 
still  less  that  such  things  are  contrary  to  the  Divine 
la\v,  thus  against  God. 

When  I  have  mentioned  many  things  from  the 
doctrines  of  the  churches  and  from  the  Word  to 
prove  that  shunning  and  turning  away  from  evils 
as  sins  is  the  Christian  religion  itself,  and  that  every 
one  has  faith  as  he  does  this,  they  were  silent.  But 
they  were  convinced  that  this  is  true  when  they 
saw  that  all  were  examined  in  regard  to  their  life, 
and  were  judged  according  to  their  deeds,  and  no 
one  was  judged  according  to  faith  separate  from  life, 


CHAPTER  XIII.,  N.  274  379 

because  every  one  has  faith  according  to  his  life. 
That  this  has  been  for  the  most  part  unknown 
to  the  Christian  world  is  from  the  law  of  the  Di- 
vine providence  that  every  one  is  left  to  act  from 
freedom  in  accordance  with  reason  (see  above,  n. 
71-99,  and  n.  100-128);  also  from  the  law  that  no 
one  is  taught  immediately  from  heaven,  but  medi- 
ately through  the  Word  and  doctrine  and  preaching 
from  it  .(n.  154-174)  ;  also  from  all  the  laws  of  per- 
misrion,  which  are  likewise  laws  of  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence. (More  on  this  above,  n.  258.) 

274.  (iv.)  A  doubt  may  arise  in  opposition  to 
Divine  providence  from  the  fact  that  it  has  not 
hitherto  been  known  that  man  lives  as  a  man  after 
death;  also  that  this  has  not  been  disclosed  before. — 
This  has  not  been  known  before  for  the  reason  that 
in  those  who  do  not  shun  evils  as  sins  there  is  con- 
cealed interiorly  a  belief  that  man  does  not  live 
after  death ;  and  therefore  it  is  a  matter  of  no  con- 
sequence to  them  whether  it  is  said  that  man  lives 
as  a  man  after  death  or  whether  it  is  said  that  he  is 
to  rise  again  at  the  day  of  the  last  judgment ;  and 
if  by  any  chance  a  belief  in  the  resurrection  occurs 
to  him  he  says  to  himself,  "It  will  be  no  worse  for 
me  than  for  others ;  if  I  go  to  hell  I  shall  have 
plenty  of  company,  and  the  same  is  true  if  I  go  to 
heaven."  And  yet  in  all  that  have  any  religion 
there  is  implanted  a  knowledge  that  after  death  they 
live  as  men  ;  while  the  idea  that  they  will  then  live 
as  souls  and  not  as  men  exists  only  with  those 


?80  THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE 

that  have  been  infatuated  by  their  own  intelligence, 
and  with  no  others. 

That  in  every  one  that  has  any  religion  there 
is  implanted  a  knowledge  that  after  death  he  will 
live  as  a  man  can  be  seen  from  the  following  con- 
siderations : — 

(i.)   Does  any  one  when  dying  think  otherwise? 

(2.)  What  eulogist,  when  lamenting  the  'dead, 
does  not  exalt  them  to  heaven,  and  place  them 
among  angels  as  talking  with  them  and  enjoying 
their  happiness?  Some,  moreover,  are  deified. 

(3.)  Who  among  the  common  people  does  not 
believe  that  when  he  dies,  if  he  has  lived  well,  he 
will  go  to  a  heavenly  paradise,  be  clothed  in  white 
raiment,  and  enjoy  eternal  life? 

(4.)  What  priest  is  there  who  does  not  say  the 
same  or  like  things  to  one  about  to  die?  And  when 
he  says  it  he  also  believes  it,  except  when  he  is 
thinking  about  the  last  judgment. 

(5.)  Who  does  not  believe  that  his  little  child- 
ren are  in  heaven,  and  that  after  death  he  will  see 
his  wife  whom  he  has  loved?  Who  thinks  that 
they  are  ghosts,  still  less  that  they  are  souls  or 
minds  flitting  about  the  universe  ? 

(6.)  Who  objects  when  anything  is  said  about 
the  lot  or  state  of  those  who  have  passed  from 
time  to  time  into  the  eternal  life?  I  have  said  to 
many  that  such  is  the  state  and  lot  of  these  and  of 
those,  and  I  have  never  heard  any  one  say  that  they 
have  not  yet  had  their  lot,  but  will  have  it  at  the 
time  of  the  judgment. 


CHAPTER   XIII. ,  N.  274  381 

(7.)  When  one  sees  angels  painted  or  sculp- 
tured does  he  not  recognize  them  to  be  such? 
Who  thinks  at  such  a  time  that  they  are  spirits 
without  bodies,  or  are  air  or  clouds,  as  some  of  the 
learned  have  taught? 

(8.)  The  papists  believe  that  their  saints  are  hu- 
man beings  in  heaven,  and  that  the  rest  are  some- 
where else ;  the  Mohammedans  believe  the  same 
of  their  dead ;  the  Africans  believe  this  more  than 
others,  and  many  other  nations  believe  it; — why 
do  not  Reformed  Christians  who  know  it  from  the 
Word? 

(9.)  From  this  knowledge  implanted  in  every 
one  there  are  some  that  aspire  to  immortality  of 
fame  ;  for  this  knowledge  is  turned  into  such  an 
aspiration  with  some,  and  makes  them  heroes  or 
brave  in  war. 

(10.)  Inquiry  was  made  in  the  spiritual  world 
whether  this  knowledge  is  implanted  in  all,  and  it 
was  found  to  be  implanted  in  all,  not  however  in 
the  natural  ideas  belonging  to  their  external  thought, 
but  in  the  spiritual  ideas  belonging  to  their  internal 
thought.  From  all  this  it  can  be  seen  that  no 
doubt  in  opposition  to  a  Divine  providence  ought 
to  arise  from  the  fact  that  it  is  supposed  to  be  now 
first  disclosed  that  man  lives  as  a  man  after  death. 
It  is  only  man's  sensual  part  that  wishes  to  see  and 
to  touch  what  it  is  to  believe ;  and  whoever  does 
not  think  above  that  is  in  the  darkness  of  night 
regarding  the  state  of  his  life. 


XIV. 


EVILS  ARE   PERMITTED   FOR  THE  SAKE  OF  THE  END,  WHICH 
IS  SALVATION. 


IF  man  were  born  into  the  love  into  which  he 
was  created  he  would  not  be  in  any  evil,  nor 
would  he  even  know  what  evil  is  ;  for  one  who 
has  not  been  in  evil,  and  consequently  is  not  in 
evil,  cannot  know  what  evil  is  ;  and  if  told  that 
this  or  that  is  evil  would  not  believe  it  possible. 
Such  was  the  state  of  innocence  in  which  Adam 
and  Eve  his  wife  were,  the  "nakedness"  that  they 
were  not  ashamed  of  signifying  that  state.  A  know- 
ledge of  evil  after  the  fall  is  meant  by  eating  from 
the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil.  The 
love  into  which  man  was  created  is,  love  of  the 
neighbor,  to  the  end  that  he  may  wish  as  well  to 
the  neighbor  as  to  himself  and  even  better,  and 
may  be  in  the  delight  of  that  love  when  he  is  do- 
ing good  to  the  neighbor  ;  nearly  the  same  as  a 
parent's  love  for  his  children.  This  love  is  truly 
human,  for  there  is  in  it  a  spiritual  [element]  that 
distinguishes  it  from  the  natural  love  that  belongs 
to  brute  animals.  If  man  were  born  into  that  love 
he  would  not  be  born  into  the  thick  darkness  of 
ignorance,  as  every  man  now  is,  but  into  a  certain 
light  of  knowledge  and  intelligence  therefrom  ;  and 


CHAPTER   XIV.,  N.  2"j6  383 

these  he  would  quickly  come  into  after  birth.  At 
first,  of  course,  he  would  creep  like  a  quadruped, 
but  with  an  inherent  endeavor  to  raise  himself  up 
upon  his  feet ;  for  however  much  like  a  quadruped 
he  would  not  turn  his  face  downward  to  the  earth 
but  forward  towards  heaven,  and  would  so  raise 
himself  up  as  to  be  able  to  look  upwards. 

276.  But  when  love  of  the  neighbor  was  turned 
into  love  of  self,  and  this  love  increased,  human  love 
was  turned  into  animal  love,  and  man  from  being  a 
man  became  a  beast,  with  the  difference  that  he  was 
able  to  think  about  what  affected  the  senses  of  the 
body,  and  could  rationally  discriminate  one  thing 
from  another,  and  could  be  taught,  and  could  be- 
come a  civil  and  moral  man,  and  finally  a  spiritual 
man.  For,  as  has  been  said,  a  man  has  a  spiritual, 
and  by  this  he  is  distinguished  from  a  brute  ;  for 
by  this  he  is  able  to  know  what  civil  evil  and  civil 
good  are,  also  what  moral  evil  and  moral  good  are, 
and  if  he  will,  what  spiritual  evil  and  spiritual  good 
are.  When  love  of  the  neighbor  had  been  turned 
into  love  of  self  man  could  no  longer  be  born  into 
the  light  of  knowledge  and  intelligence,  but  he  was 
born  into  the  darkness  of  ignorance,  because  he  was 
born  into  the  very  outmost  of  life  called  the  cor- 
poreal-sensual ;  and  from  that  he  could  be  led  into 
the  interiors  of  the  natural  mind  by  means  of  in- 
struction, the  spiritual  always  accompanying.  Why 
man  is  born  into  the  outmost  of  life  which  is  called 
the  corporeal-sensual,  and  consequently  into  the 


384  THE  •DIVINE  TROt/IDENCE 

thick  darkness   of  ignorance,   will  be  seen  in  what 
follows. 

That  love  of  the  neighbor  and  love  of  self  are 
opposite  loves  any  one  can  see  ;  for  love  of  the 
neighbor  wishes  well  to  every  one  from  itself,  while 
love  of  self  wishes  well  to  itself  alone  from  every 
one,  love  of  the  neighbor  wishes  to  serve  every  one, 
while  love  of  self  wishes  every  one  to  serve  it  ;  love 
of  the  neighbor  regards  every  one  as  its  brother  and 
friend,  while  love  of  self  regards  every  one  as  its 
servant,  or  as  its  enemy  if  he  does  not  serve  it  ; 
in  a  word,  it  regards  itself  only,  and  others  scarcely 
as  men,  holding  them  in  heart  in  less  estimation 
than  its  horses  and  dogs.  And  because  it  regards 
them  as  of  no  account  it  thinks  nothing  of  doing 
evil  to  them  ;  and  this  is  the  source  of  hatred  and 
revenge,  adultery  and  whoredom,  theft  and  fraud, 
lying  and  defamation,  violence  and  cruelty,  and 
other  such  evils.  Such  are  the  evils  in  which  man 
is  from  birth.  That  they  are  permitted  for  the  sake 
of  the  end,  which  is  salvation,  will  be  shown  in  the 
following  order  : 

(i.)  Every  man  is  in  evil,  and  must  be  led  away 
from  evil  in  order  to  be  reformed. 

(ii.)    Evils  cannot  be  retnoved  unless  they  appear. 

(iii.)  So  far  as  evils  are  removed  they  are  re- 
mitted. 

(iv.)  Thus  the  permission  of  evil  is  for  the  sake 
of  the  end,  that  there  may  be  salvation. 


1.  (i.)  Every  man  is  in  evil,  and  must  be 
led  aivay  from  evil  in  order  to  be  reformed.  —  It  is 


CHAPTER  Xlf.,  N.  277!']  385 

admitted  in  the  church  that  every  man  has  hered- 
itary evil,  and  that  from  this  he  is  in  the  lust  of 
many  evils  ;  and  it  is  from  this  that  man  cannot  dto 
good  of  himself ;  for  evil  does  not  do  good  except 
such  good  as  has  evil  within  it.  The  evil  that  is 
within  the  good  is  his  doing  the  good  for  the  sake 
of  self,  and  thus  only  for  the  sake  of  the  appear- 
ance. It  is  admitted  that  this  evil  is  inherited  from 
parents.  It  is  said  to  be  from  Adam  and  his  wife, 
but  this  is  an  error  ;  for  every  one  is  born  into  it 
from  his  parent,  and  the  parent  from  his  parent, 
and  he  from  his,  and  thus  it  is  successively  trans- 
ferred  from  one  to  another  ;  so,  too,  it  is  increased, 
and  grows  as  it  were  to  a  vast  heap,  and  is  trans- 
mitted to  offspring.  In  consequence  of  this  there 
is  nothing  sound  in  man,  but  he  is  altogether  evil. 
Who  has  any  feeling  that  it  is  wrong  to  love  him- 
self more  than  others?  Who,  then,  knows  that  it 
is  evil  ?  And  yet  this  is  the  head  of  all  evils. 

That  there  is  this  transmission  from  parents, 
grandfathers,  and  great-grandfathers,  is  evident  from 
many  things  that  are  known  in  the  world,  as  that 
households,  families,  and  even  nations,  are  distin- 
guished from  each  other  merely  by  the  face,  and 
the  'face  is  a  type  of  the  mind,  and  the  mind  is  in 
accord  with  the  affections  which  belong  to  the  love. 
Sometimes,  too,  the  features  of  a  grandfather  re- 
appear in  those  of  a  grandson  or  a  great-grandson. 
From  the  features  alone  I  know  whether  a  man  is 
a  Jew  or  not,  and  also  from  what  stock  some  are  ; 
and  others  doubtless  know  the  same.  If  affections, 


386  THE  DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

which  belong  to  the  love,  are  thus  derived  and 
handed  down  from  parents,  it  follows  that  evils 
are,  for  they  belong  to  the  affections.  But  the  or- 
igin of  this  resemblance  shall  now  be  explained. 

Every  one's  soul  is  from  the  father,  and  from 
the  mother  it  is  merely  clothed  with  a  body.  That 
the  soul  is  from  the  father  follows  not  only  from 
the  things  mentioned  above,  but  also  from  many 
other  indications  ;  also  from  the  fact  that  a  child 
of  a  black  or  Moorish  father  by  a  white  or  Europ- 
ean woman  is  black,  and  vice  versa ;  also  chiefly 
from  this,  that  the  soul  is  in  the  seed,  for  from  the 
seed  is  impregnation,  and  the  seed  is  what  is 
clothed  with  a  body  by  the  mother.  The  seed  is 
the  primal  form  of  the  love  in  which  the  father  is  ; 
it  is  the  form  of  his  ruling  love  with  its  nearest 
derivations,  which  are  the  inmost  affeclions  of  that 
love. 

In  every  one  these  affections  are  encompassed 
with  the  honesties  that  belong  to  moral  life  and 
with  the  goodnesses  that  belong  partly  to  the  civil 
and  partly  to  the  spiritual  life.  These  constitute 
the  external  of  life  even  with  the  wicked.  Into 
this  external  of  life  every  infant  is  born,  and  con- 
sequently is  loveable  ;  but  as  the  child  grows  to 
boyhood  or  to  youth  he  passes  from  that  external 
to  what  is  interior,  and  finally  to  the  ruling  love  of 
his  father  ;  and  if  this  has  been  evil,  and  has  not 
by  various  means  been  tempered  and  bent  by  his 
teachers,  it  becomes  his  love  as  it  was  the  father's. 
And  yet  the  evil  is  not  eradicated  but  only  re- 


CHAPTER   XIY.,  N.  2j8\-*}  387 

moved  ;  of  which  in  what  follows.     Evidently,  then, 
every  man  is  in  evil. 

277^2],  That  man  must  be  led  away  from  evil 
in  order  to  be  reformed  is  evident  without  ex- 
planation ;  for  he  that  is  in  evil  in  the  world  is  in 
evil  after  he  has  left  the  world  ;  consequently  if 
evil  is  not  removed  in  the  world  it  cannot  be  re- 
moved afterwards.  Where  the  tree  falls  there  it 
lies.  So,  too,  does  a  man's  life  when  he  dies  re- 
main such  as  it  has  been.  Every  one  is  judged 
according  to  his  deeds  ;  not  that  these  are  enum- 
erated, but  because  he  returns  to  them  and  acts 
in  the  same  way  ;  for  death  is  a  continuation  of 
life,  with  the  difference  that  man  cannot  then  be 
reformed.  All  reformation  is  effected  in  complete- 
ness, that  is,  simultaneously  in  first  principles  and 
in  outmosts  ;  and  outmosts  are  reformed  harmoni- 
ously with  first  principles  while  man  is  in  the  world, 
and  cannot  be  reformed  afterwards,  because  the 
outmosts  of  life  that  man  carries  with  him  after 
death  become  quiescent,  and  are  in  harmony  with 
his  interiors,  that  is,  they  acl  as  one. 


*  (ii-  )  Evils  cannot  be  removed  unless 
they  appear.  —  This  does  not  mean  that  man  must 
do  evils  in  order  that  they  may  appear,  but  that  he 
must  examine  himself,  —  not  his  deeds  alone  but  his 
thoughts,  and  what  he  would  do  if  he  did  not  fear 
the  laws  and  disrepute,  especially  what  evils  he  re- 
gards in  his  spirit  as  allowable  and  does  not  ac- 
count as  sins  ;  for  these  he  still  does.  It  is  to 


388  THE  THflNE  TROI/IDENCE 

enable  man  to  examine  himself  that  an  understand- 
ing has  been  given  him,  and  this  is  separated  from 
the  will  to  the  end  that  he  may  know,  understand, 
and  acknowledge  what  is  good  and  what  is  evil, 
also  that  he  may  see  what  his  will  is,  that  is,  what 
he  loves  and  what  he  longs  for.  In  order  that  man 
may  see  this  there  has  been  given  to  his  under- 
standing higher  and  lower  thought,  or  interior  and 
exterior  thought,  to  enable  him  to  see  from  the 
higher  or  interior  thought  what  the  will  is  doing  in 
the  lower  and  exterior  thought ;  this  he  sees  as  a 
man  sees  his  face  in  a  mirror  ;  and  when  he  sees 
it  and  knows  what  sin  is,  he  is  able,  if  he  implores 
the  Lord's  help,  to  cease  willing  it,  to  shun  it,  and 
afterwards  to  adl  against  it,  if  not  freely,  still  to 
coerce  it  by  combat,  and  finally  to  turn  away  from  it 
and  hate  it ;  and  then,  and  not  before,  he  perceives 
and  also  feels  that  evil  is  evil  and  that  good  is  good. 
This,  then,  is  examining  one's  self,  seeing  one's  evils, 
acknowledging  them,  and  afterwards  refraining  from 
them.  But  as  there  are  few  who  know  that  this  is 
the  Christian  religion  itself  (because  only  those  who 
know  this  have  charity  and  faith,  and  they  alone  are 
led  by  the  Lord  and  do  good  from  Him),  so  some- 
thing shall  be  said  of  those  who  do  not  do  this  and 
nevertheless  think  that  they  have  religion.  They 
are  these:  (i.)  Those  who  confess  themselves 
guilty  of  all  sins,  and  do  not  search  out  any  sin  in 
themselves.  (2.)  Those  who  neglect  the  search 
from  religious  reasons.  (3.)  Those  who  for  worldly 
reasons  think  nothing  about  sins,  and  are  therefore 


CHAPTER  XIV.,  N.  27#£l3  389 

ignorant  of  them.  (4.)  Those  who  favor  them  and 
in  consequence  are  ignorant  of  them.  (5.)  To  all 
such  sins  are  not  apparent,  and  therefore  cannot 
be  removed.  (6.)  Lastly,  the  reason,  hitherto  hidr 
den,  will  be  made  evident,  why  evils  cannot  be  re- 
moved unless  they  are  sought  out,  discovered,  ac- 
knowledged, confessed,  and  resisted. 

278^.  But  these  points  must  be  examined  one 
by  one,  because  they  are  the  primary  things  on 
man's  part  of  the  Christian  religion.  First :  Of 
those  who  confess  themselves  guilty  of  all  sins,  and 
do  not  search  out  any  sin  in  themselves.  Such  a  one 
says,  "  I  am  a  sinner,  for  I  was  born  in  sin ;  there 
is  nothing  sound  in  me  from  head  to  foot,  I  am 
nothing  but  evil ;  good  God,  be  gracious  unto  me, 
pardon  me,  cleanse  me,  save  me,  make  me  to  walk 
in  purity  and  the  way  of  righteousness,"  and  so 
on ;  and  yet  he  does  not  examine  himself,  and  con- 
sequently is  ignorant  of  any  evil ;  and  no  one  can 
shun  that  of  which  he  is  ignorant,  still  less  can  he 
fight  against  it.  He  also  believes  himself  to  be 
clean  and  washed  after  his  confessions,  and  yet  he 
is  unclean  and  unwashed  from  the  head  to  the  sole 
of  the  foot ;  for  a  confession  of  all  sin  is  unconscious- 
ness of  all,  and  at  length  blindness.  It  is  like  a  uni- 
versal apart  from  any  particular,  which  is  nothing. 

Secondly  :  Of  those  who  neglect  the  search  from 
religious  reasons.  These  are  especially  such  as  sep- 
arate charity  from  faith  ;  for  they  say  to  themselves, 
"Why  should  I  search  whether  there  is  evil  or 
good?  Why  search  for  evil,  when  it  does  not  con- 


390  THE  DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

de'rnn  me;  or  why  for  good,  when  it  does  not  save 
me  ?  It  is  faith  alone,  thought  and  declared  with 
trust  and  confidence,  that  justifies  and  purifies  from 
all  sin  ;  and  when  once  I  am  justified  I  am  whole 
before  God.  I  am  indeed  in  evil,  but  God  wipes 
this  away  as  soon  as  it  it  is  done,  and  thus  it  no 
longer  appears ;"  and  other  like  things.  But  who 
does  not  see,  if  he  will  open  his  eyes,  that  such 
things  are  empty  words,  in  which  there  is  no  real- 
ity, because  there  is  no  good  in  them  ?  Who  can- 
not so  think  and  speak,  even  with  trust  and  confid- 
ence, when  at  the  same  time  he  is  thinking  about 
hell  and  eternal  damnation  ?  Does  such  a  one  wish 
to  know  anything  further,  either  what  is  true  or 
what  is  good?  Respecting  truth  he  says,  "What 
is  truth  but  that  which  confirms  this  faith?"  And 
respecting  good  he  says,  "  What  is  good  but  that 
which  is  in  me  from  this  faith?  But  that  it  may  be 
in  me.  I  must  not  do  it  as  from  myself,  since  this 
is  meritorious  ;  and  good  for  which  merit  is  claimed 
is  not  good."  Thus  he  ignores  everything  until  he 
ceases  to  know  what  evil  is.  What  then  shall  he 
examine  and  see  in  himself?  Does  not  his  state 
then  become  such  that  the  pent-up  fires  of  the  lusts 
of  evil  consume  the  interiors  of  his  mind  and  lay 
them  waste  to  the  very  gate?  Only  this  gate  does 
he  guard  that  the  burning  may  not  appear ;  but  af- 
ter death  this  is  opened,  and  then  it  is  evident  to  all. 
Thirdly  :  Of  those  who  for  worldly  reasons  think 
nothing  about  sins  and  are  therefore  ignorant  of 
them.  The.-e  are  such  as  love  the  world  above  all 


CHAPTER  XIV.,  N.  2j8\2\  391 

things,  and  admit  no  truth  that  weakens  any  falsity 
of  their  religion,  saying  to  themselves,  "What  is 
that  to  me?  It  is  not  for  me  to  think  of."  Thus 
they  rejecl:  the  truth  the  moment  it  is  heard,  and 
if  they  listen  to  it  they  stifle  it.  They  do  much  the 
same  when  they  hear  preaching ;  they  retain  no- 
thing of  it  except  some  few  phrases, — nothing  real. 
Dealing  thus  with  truths  they  do  not  know  what 
good  is ;  for  good  and  truth  act  as  one ;  and  from 
any  good  that  is  not  from  -truth  evil  is  not  recog- 
nized, unless  it  be  to  call  it  good,  and  this  is  done 
by  means  of  reasonings  from  falsities.  Such  are 
rrfeant  by  the  seed  that  fell  among  thorns,  of  whom 
the  Lord  says  : 

"Others  fell  among  the  thorns,  and  the  thorns  grew  up 

and  choked  them These  are  they  that  hear  the 

Word,  and  the  care  of  this  world  and  the  deceitful- 
ness  of  riches  so  choke  the  Word  that  it  becometh 
unfruitful"  (Matt.  xiii.  7,  22;  Mark'rt.  7,  19;  Luke 
viii.  7,  14) 

Fourthly  :  Of  those  that  favor  sins,  and  in  con- 
sequence are  ignorant  of  them.  These  are  such  as 
acknowledge  God  and  worship  Him  in  accordance 
with  established  ceremonies,  and  convince  them- 
selves that  any  evil  that  is  a  sin  is  not  a  sin,  painting 
it  over  with  fallacies  and  appearances,  and  thus 
hiding  ks  enormity ;  and  having  done  this  they 
favor  it,  and  make  it  their  friend  and  familiar.  It 
is  said  that  those  do  this  who  acknowledge  God,  for 
others  do  not  regard  any  evil  as  a  sin,  for  all  sin  is 
against  God.  But  let  examples  illustrate.  One  that 


392  THE  T>IVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

is  greedy  for  wealth  makes  an  evil  to  be  no  sin 
when,  from  reasons  that  he  devises,  he  makes  cer- 
tain kinds  of  fraud  allowable.  He  does  the  same 
who  justifies  in  himself  a  spirit  of  revenge  against 
enemies ;  or  who  in  war  justifies  the  plundering  of 
those  who  are  not  enemies. 

Fifthly :  To  all  such  sins  are  not  apparent,  and 
therefore  cannot  be  removed.  All  evil  that  is  not 
seen  cherishes  itself.  It  is  like  fire  in  wood  covered 
with  ashes,  or  like  matter  in  a  wound  that  is  not 
opened.  For  all  evil  that  is  shut  in  grows  and  does 
not  stop  till  the  end  is  reached.  That  no  evil,  there- 
fore, may  be  shut  up,  every  one  is  permitted  'to 
think  in  favor  of  God  or  against  God,  and  in  favor 
of  the  holy  things  of  the  church  or  against  them, 
and  not  be  punished  therefor  in  the  world.  Of  this 
the  Lord  thus  speaks  in  Isaiah: 

"  From  the  sole  of  the  foot  even  unto  the  head  there  is 
no  soundness  in  it ;  the  wound,  the  bruise,  and  the 
fresh  stripe,  they  have  not  been  pressed  out,  nor  bound 

up,  nor  mollified  with  oil Wash  you,  make  you 

clean  ;   put  away  the  evil  of  your  doings  from  before 

Mine  eyes  ;  cease  to  do  evil ;  learn  to  do  well 

Then,  although  your  sins  have  been  as  scarlet  they 
shall  become  white  as  snow;  although  they  have  been 

red  as  crimson  they  shall  be  as  wool But  if  ye 

refuse  and  rebel  ye  shall  be  devoured  by  the  sword  " 
(i.  6,  16-18,  20). 

4 'To  be  devoured  by  the  sword"  signifies  to  perish 
by  the  falsity  of  evil. 

Sixthly :  The  reason  hitherto  hidden  why  evils 
cannot  be  removed  unless  they  are  sought  out,  dis- 
covered, acknowledged,  confessed,  and  resisted.  It 


CHAPTER   XIV.,  N.  2 yp  393 

has  been  remarked  in  the  preceding  pages  that  the 
entire  heaven  is  arranged  in  societies  according 
to  [the  affections  of  good,  and  the  entire  hell  ac- 
cording to]  the  lusts  of  evil  opposite  to  the  affec- 
tions of  good.  As  to  his  spirit  every  man  is  in 
some  society ;  in  a  heavenly  society  if  he  is  in  an 
affection  for  good,  but  in  an  infernal  society  if  he 
is  in  a  lust  of  evil.  This  is  unknown  to  man  so 
long  as  he  lives  in  the  world  ;  nevertheless  he  is  in 
respect  to  his  spirit  in  some  society,  and  without 
this  he  cannot  live,  and  by  means  of  it  he  is  gov- 
erned by  the  Lord.  If  he  is  in  an  infernal  society 
he  can  be  led  out  of  it  by  the  Lord  only  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  laws  of  His  Divine  providence, 
among  which  is  this,  that  the  man  must  see  that 
he  is  there,  must  wish  to  go  out  of  it,  and  must 
try  to  do  this  of  himself.  This  he  can  do  while 
he  is  in  the  world,  but  not  after  death  ;  for  he  then 
remains  forever  in  the  society  into  which  he  has 
inserted  himself  while  in  the  world.  This  is  the 
reason  why  man  must  examine  himself,  must  recog- 
nize and  acknowledge  his  sins  and  repent,  and  then 
must  persevere  even  to  the  end  of  his  life.  That 
this  is  true  I  could  prove  by  much  experience, 
sufficient  for  complete  belief;  but  this  is  not  the 
place  to  set  forth  the  proofs  of  experience. 

279.  (iii.)  So  far  as  evils  are  removed  they  are 
remitted. — It  is  an  error  of  the  age  to  believe  that 
evils  have  been  separated  from  man  and  even  cast 
out  when  they  have  been  remitted,  and  that  the 


394  THE  'DIVINE  <PROriDENCE 

state  of  a  man's  life  can  be  changed  instantly,  even 
to  its  opposite,  and  thus  from  being  evil  a  man 
can  become  good,  and  in  consequence  be  led  out 
of  hell  and  transferred  straightway  into  heaven,  and 
this  by  the  Lord's  mercy  apart  from  means.  But 
those  who  hold  this  belief  and  opinion  know  no- 
thing whatever  about  what  evil  is  or  what  good  is, 
and  nothing  whatever  about  the  state  of  man's  life, 
and  are  wholly  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  affections, 
which  belong  to  the  will,  are  nothing  but  changes 
and  variations  of  state  of  the  purely  organic  sub- 
stances of  the  mind,  and  that  thoughts,  which  be- 
long to  the  understanding,  are  nothing  but  changes 
and  variations  in  the  form  of  these  substances,  and 
that  memory  is  the  state  of  those  changes  that  re- 
mains permanent.  When  all  this  is  known  it  can 
be  clearly  seen  that  no  evil  can  be  removed  ex- 
cept by  successive  steps,  and  that  the  remission 
of  evil  is  not  its  removal.  But  these  are  summary 
statements,  and  unless  they  are  demonstrated  may 
be  acknowledged  but  can  not  be  comprehended ; 
and  what  is  not  comprehended  is  [seen  indistinct- 
ly] like  a  wheel  turned  round  by  the  hand  ;  there- 
fore these  statements  must  be  demonstrated  one  by 
one,  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  presented. 

First :  It  is  an  error  of  the  age  to  believe  that 
evils  have  been  separated,  and  even  cast  out,  when 
they  have  been  remitted.  It  has  been  granted  me 
to  know  from  heaven  that  no  evil  into  which  man 
is  born  and  that  he  himself  actually  imbibes  is 
separated  from  him,  but  is  so  removed  as  not  to 


CHAPTER  XIV.,  N.  279  395 

appear.  I  formerly  held  the  belief  that  is  held  by 
most  in  the  world,  that  when  evils  are  remitted  they 
are  cast  out,  and  are  washed  and  wiped  away,  as 
dirt  is  washed  from  the  face  by  water.  But  this  is 
not  true  of  evils  or  sins,  they  all  remain  ;  and 'when 
after  repentance  they  are  remitted  they  are  moved 
from  the  centre  to  the  sides  ;  and  then  what  is  in 
the  centre,  because  it  is  direclly  under  view,  ap- 
pears as  in  the  light  of  day,  and  what  is  at  the 
sides  is  in  the  shade,  and  sometimes  as  it  were  in 
the  darkness  of  night.  And  as  evils  are  not  separ- 
ated but  only  removed,  that  is,  dismissed  to  the 
sides,  and  as  man  can  pass  from  the  centre  to  the 
parts  round  about,  it  is  possible  or  him  to  return 
into  his  evils  which  he  supposed  had  been  cast 
out.  For  man  is  such  that  he  can  pass  from  one 
affection  into  another,  and  sometimes  into  an  op- 
posite one,  thus  from  one  centre  to  another,  his 
affection,  so  long  as  he  is  in  it,  making  the  centre, 
for  then  he  is  in  its  delight  and  in  its  light. 

There  are  some  who  are  raised  up  by  the  Lord 
after  death  into  heaven  because  they  have  lived 
well,  but  who  have  carried  with  them  a  belief  that 
they  are  clean  and  pure  from  sins,  and  therefore 
are  free  from  all  guilt.  These  at  first  are  clothed 
in  white  garments,  in  accordance  with  their  belief, 
for  white  garments  signify  a  state  cleansed  from 
evil.  But  afterwards  they  begin  to  think  as  they 
did  in  the  world  that  they  are  as  it  were  washed 
from  all  evil,  and  to  glory  therefore  in  the  idea  that 
they  are  no  longer 'sinners  like  others,  which  can 


396  THE  VICINE 

hardly  be  separated  from  a  kind  of  elation  of  mind 
and  a  kind  of  contempt  of  others  compared  with 
themselves.  Then,  in  order  to  remove  them  from 
their  imaginary  belief  they  are  sent  away  from  heav- 
en and  let  down  into  their  evils  which  they  con- 
traded  in  the  world  ;  and  at  the  same  time  they 
are  shown  that  they  are  also  in  hereditary  evils,  of 
which  they  had  been  ignorant  before.  When  they 
have  thus  been  compelled  to  acknowledge  that  their 
evils  have  not  been  separated  from  them  but  only 
removed,  consequently  that  of  themselves  they  are 
impure  and  in  facl;  nothing  but  evil,  and  that  they 
are  withheld  from  evils  and  kept  in  goods  by  the 
Lord,  although  there  is  an  appearance  that  this  is 
from  themselves,  they  are  again  raised  up  by  the 
Lord  into  heaven. 

Secondly :  It  is  an  error  of  the  age  to  believe 
that  the  state  of  man's  life  can  be  changed  instantly -, 
and  thus  from  being  evil  man  can  become  good,  and 
in  consequence  can  be  led  out  of  hell,  and  transferred 
straightway  into  heaven,  and  this  by  the  Lord's 
mercy  apart  from  means.  Those  are  in  this  error 
who  separate  charity  from  faith,  and  place  salvation 
in  faith  alone ;  for  they  imagine  that  merely  think- 
ing about  and  uttering  the  statements  of  that  faith, 
if  it  is  done  with  trust  and  confidence,  is  what  just- 
ifies and  saves ;  and  many  imagine  that  this  may 
be  done  instantly,  and,  if  not  before,  at  about  the 
last  hour  of  man's  life.  Such  must  needs  believe 
that  the  state  of  a  man's  life  can  be  changed  in- 
stantly, and  man  be  i-aved  by  mercy  apart  from 


CHAPTER   XIV.,  N.  279  397 

means.  But  that  the  Lord's  mercy  is  not  apart 
from  means,  and  that  man  cannot  from  being  evil 
become  good  in  a  moment,  and  can  be  led  out  of 
hell  and  transferred  into  heaven  only  by  the  unceas- 
ing operations  of  the  Divine  providence  from  in- 
fancy even  to  the  end  of  his  life,  will  be  seen  in  the 
last  chapter  of  this  work.  Here  this  only  need  be 
said,  that  all  the  laws  of  the  Divine  providence 
have  for  their  end  the  reformation  and  consequent 
salvation  of  man,  thus  the  reversal  of  his  state 
which  by  birth  is  infernal,  into  the  opposite  state 
which  is  heavenly ;  and  that  this  can  be  done  only 
step  by  step,  as  man  withdraws  from  evil  and  its 
delight  and  enters  into  good  and  its  delight. 

Thirdly :  Those  who  so  believe  know  nothing 
whatever  about  what  evil  is  or  what  good  is.  For 
they  do  not  know  that  evil  is  the  delight  of  the 
lust  of  acling  and  thinking  contrary  to  Divine  or- 
der, and  that  good  is  the  delight  of  the  affection 
of  acting  and  thinking  in  accordance  with  Divine 
order,  and  that  there  are  myriads  of  lusts  that  enter 
into  and  compose  every  single  evil,  and  myriads 
of  affections  in  like  manner  that  enter  into  and 
compose  every  single  good,  and  that  these  myriads 
are  in  such  order  and  connection  in  man's  interi- 
ors that  no  one  can  be  changed  unless  at  the  same 
time  all  are  changed.  Those  who  do  not  know 
this  may  hold  the  belief  or  opinion  that  evil,  which 
to  them  seems  to  be  a  single  thing,  can  easily  be 
removed ;  and  good,  which  also  appears  to  be  a 
single  thing,  can  be  brought  in  in  its  place.  As 


398  THE  'DIVINE  TROVIDENCE 

such  do  not  know  what  evil  is  and  what  good  is 
they  must  needs  be  of  the  opinion  that  instant 
salvation  and  mercy  apart  from  means  are  possible ; 
but  that  they  are  not  will  be  seen  in  the  last  chap- 
ter of  this  work. 

Fourthly  :  Those  who  believe  in  instant  salvation 
and  mercy  apart  from  means  do  not  know  that  af- 
fections, which  belong  to  the  will,  are  nothing  but 
changes  of  the  state  of  the  purely  organic  siibstances 
of  the  mind;  and  that  thoughts,  which  belong  to  the 
understanding,  are  nothing  but  changes  and  varia- 
tions in  the  form  of  these  substances ;  and  that 
memory  is  the  state  of  these  changes  and  variations 
that  remains  permanent.  Who  does  not  acknow- 
ledge, when  it  is  stated,  that  affections  and  thoughts 
are  possible  only  in  substances  and  their  forms, 
which  are  subjects?  And  as  these  exist  in  the  brain, 
which  is  full  of  substances  and  forms,  the  forms  are 
called  purely  organic.  No  one  who  thinks  ration- 
ally can  help  laughing  at  the  fancies  of  some  that 
affections  and  thoughts  do  not  exist  in  substantive 
subjects,  but  are  exhalations  modified  by  heat  and 
light,  like  images  appearing  in  the  air  and  ether ; 
and  yet  thought  can  no  more  exist  apart  from  a 
substantial  form  than  sight  apart  from  its  form 
which  is  the  eye,  or  hearing  apart  from  its  form  which 
is  the  ear,  or  taste  apart  from  its  form  which  is  the 
tongue.  Examine  the  brain,  and  you  will  see  in- 
numerable substances,  and  fibres  likewise,  and  that 
there  is  nothing  there  that  is  not  organized.  What 
other  evidence  than  this  ocular  proof  is  needed  ? 


CHAPTER  XI C.,  N.  279  399 

But  it  is  asked,  What  is  affection  there,  and 
what  is  thought  there  ?  This  may  be  inferred  from 
all  things  and  each  thing  in  the  body  ;  in  it  are 
many  viscera,  each  fixed  in  its  place,  and  these  per- 
form their  functions  by  changes  and  variations  of 
state  and  form.  That  each  is  engaged  in  its  own 
operations  is  acknowledged — the  stomach  in  its 
own,  the  intestines  in  theirs,  the  kidneys  in  theirs, 
the  liver,  pancreas,  and  spleen  in  theirs,  and  the 
heart  and  lungs  in  theirs ;  and  all  of  these  are 
moved  to  their  work  solely  from  within,  and  to  be 
moved  from  within  is  to  be  moved  by  changes  and 
variations  of  state  and  form.  All  this  makes  clear 
that  the  operations  of  the  purely  organic  substances 
of  the  mind  must  resemble  these,  with  the  differ- 
ence that  the  operations  of  the  organic  substances 
of  the  body  are  natural,  while  those  of  the  mind  are 
spiritual  ;  and  that  the  two  make  one  by  correspond- 
ences. 

The  nature  of  the  changes  and  variations  of 
state  and  form  in  the  organic  substances  of  the 
mind,  which  are  affections  and  thoughts,  cannot  be 
shown  to  the  eye  ;  nevertheless  they  may  be  seen 
as  in  a  mirror  in  the  changes  and  variations  in  the 
state  of  the  lungs  in  speaking  and  singing.  There 
is  also  a  correspondence  ;  for  the  tone  of  the  voice 
in  speaking  and  singing,  and  its  articulations,  which 
are  the  words  of  speech  and  the  modulations  of  sing- 
ing, are  made  by  the  lungs,  and  tone  corresponds 
to  affection  and  speech  to  thought.  They  are  also 
produced  therefrom  ;  and  this  is  done  by  changes 


400  THE  "DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

and  variations  in  the  state  and  form  of  the  organic 
substances  in  the  lungs,  and  from  the  lungs  through 
the  trachea  or  windpipe  in  the  larynx  and  glottis, 
and  then  in  the  tongue,  and  finally  in  the  lips.  The 
first  changes  and  variations  of  the  state  and  form 
of  the  tone  take  place  in  the  lungs,  the  second  in 
the  trachea  and  larynx,  the  third  in  the  glottis  by 
the  varied  openings  of  its  orifices,  the  fourth  in  the 
tongue  by  its  various  adaptations  to  the  palate  and 
the  teeth,  the  fifth  in  the  lips  by  their  varied  forms. 
All  this  makes  clear  that  mere  changes  and  varia- 
tions, successively  continued,  in  the  state  of  organic 
forms,  produce  tones  and  their  articulations,  which 
are  speech  and  singing.  Inasmuch,  then,  as  tone 
and  speech  are  produced  from  no  other  source  than 
the  affections  and  thoughts  of  the  mind  (for  they 
exist  from  these,  and  never  apart  from  them),  it  is 
evident  that  the  affections  of  the  will  are  changes 
and  variations  in  the  state  of  the  purely  organic 
substances  of  the  mind,  and  that  the  thoughts  of 
the  understanding  are  changes  and  variations  in  the 
form  of  those  substances,  the  same  as  in  the  pul- 
monary substances. 

As  affections  and  thoughts  are  mere  changes  in 
the  state  of  the  forms  of  the  mind  it  follows  that 
memory  is  nothing  else  than  the  state  of  these 
changes  that  is  permanent.  For  all  changes  and 
variations  of  state  in  organic  substances  are  such 
that  having  once  become  habitual  they  are  perma- 
nent. Thus  the  lungs  are  habituated  to  produce 
various  sounds  in  the  trachea,  and  to  vary  them 


CHAPTER   XIV.,  N.  280  401 

in  the  glottis,  to  articulate  them  with  the  tongue, 
and  to  modify  them  with  the  mouth ;  and  these 
organic  activities,  having  once  become  habitual,  are 
in  the  organs  and  can  be  reproduced.  That  these 
changes  and  variations  are  infinitely  more  perfect  in 
the  organic  structures  of  the  .mind  than  in  those  of 
the  body  is  evident  from  what  has  been  said  in  The 
Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom  (n.  199-204), 
where  it  has  been  shown  that  all  perfections  increase 
and  ascend  by  degrees  and  according  to  degrees. 
More  about  this  may  be  seen  below  (n.  319). 

280.  Another  error  of  the  age  is  that  when 
sins  have  been  remitted  they  are  removed.  Those 
are  in  this  error  who  believe  that  sins  are  remitted 
to  them  by  the  sacrament  of  the  Supper,  although 
they  have  not  removed  them  from  themselves  by 
repentance.  Those  also  are  in  it  who  believe  that 
they  are  saved  by  faith  alone*;  also  those  who  be- 
lieve that  they  are  saved  by  papal  dispensations. 
All  of  these  believe  in  mercy  apart  from  means  and 
in  instant  salvation.  Yet  when  this  is  reversed  it 
becomes  a  truth,  namely,  that  when  sins  have  been 
removed  they  have  also  been  remitted  ;  for  repent- 
ance precedes  remission,  and  without  repentance 
there  is  no  remission.  Therefore  the  Lord  com- 
manded the  disciples 

To  preach   repentance  for  the  remission  of  sins  (Luke 

xxiv.  47). 
And  John  "preached  the  baptism  of  repentance  for  the 

remission  of  sins"  (Luke  iii.  3). 

To  every  one  the  Lord  remits  sins.     He  does  not 


402  THE  'DIVINE  TROWDENCF. 

accuse  and  impute.  And  yet  He  can  take  them 
away  only  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  His  Di- 
vine providence  ;  for  when  to  Peter  (who  asked  how 
often  he  should  forgive  a  brother  sinning  against 
him,  whether  seven  times,)  the  Lord  said 

That  he  should  forgive  not  only  seven  times  but  until 
seventy  times  seven  (Matt,  xviii.  21,  22), 

what  will  not  He  forgive  who  is  mercy  itself? 

281.  (iv.)  Thus  the  permission  of  evil  is  for  the 
sake  of  the  end,  that  there  may  be  salvation. — It  is 
acknowledged  that  man  has  full  liberty  to  think 
and  will,  but  not  full  liberty  to  say  and  to  do  what- 
ever he  thinks  and  wills.  For  he  can  think  like 
an  atheist,  can  deny  God,  blaspheme  the  holy 
things  of  the  Word  and  the  church,  and  can  even 
desire  to  destroy  thern  by  word  and  deed  to  their 
utter  extermination ;  but  this  is  prevented  by  civ- 
il, moral,  and  ecclesiastical  laws  ;  consequently  he 
cherishes  inwardly  these  wicked  and  impious  things 
by  thinking  and  willing  and  also  purposing  them, 
but  not  doing  them.  One  who  is  not  an  atheist 
has  also  full  liberty  to  think  about  many  things 
that  pertain  to  evil,  such  as  things  fraudulent,  las- 
civious, revengeful,  and  other  insanities ;  and  some- 
times he  does  them.  Who  can  believe  that  unless 
man  had  full  liberty  he  not  only  could  not  be  saved 
but  would  even  perish  utterly? 

Now  let  reason  be  heard :  Every  man  is  from 
birth  in  evils  of  many  kinds ;  these  evils  are  in  his 


CHAPTER   XI P.,  N.  281  403 

will,  and  whatever  is  in  the  will  is  loved ;  for  that 
which  a  man  wills  from  the  interior  he  loves,  and 
that  which  he  loves  he  wills,  and  the  will's  love 
flows  into  the  understanding  and  makes  its  delight 
to  be  felt  therein,  and  from  that  it  comes  into  the 
thoughts,  and  also  into  the  intentions.  If,  there- 
fore, man  were  not  permitted  to  think  in  accord- 
ance with  his  will's  love,  which  is  implanted  in  him 
by  inheritance,  that  love  would  remain  shut  in,  and 
would  never  be  seen  by  him,  and  a  love  of  evil 
that  is  not  seen  is  like  an  enemy  in  ambush,  like 
matter  in  an  ulcer,  like  poison  in  the  blood,  or  cor- 
ruption in  the  breast,  which,  if  they  are  kept  shut 
in,  induce  death.  But  on  the  other  hand,  if  man  is 
permitted  to  think  about  the  evils  of  his  life's  love, 
even  so  far  as  to  do  them,  they  can  be  cured  by 
spiritual  means,  as  diseases  are  by  natural  means. 

What  a  nian  would  be  if  he  were  not  permitted 
to  think  in  accordance  with  the  delights  of  his  life's 
love  shall  now  be  told.  He  would  no  longer  be 
a  man.  His  two  faculties  called  liberty  and  ration- 
ality, in  which  the  essential  humanity  consists, 
would  be  destroyed.  The  delights  of  these  evils 
would  occupy  the  interiors  of  his  mind,  even  to  the 
extent  that  the  door  would  be  closed ;  and  in  that 
case  he  could  speak  and  a<5t  only  in  accordance  with 
those  delights,  thus  he  would  ac"l  insanely,  not  only 
in  his  own  sight  but  also  before  the  world,  and  at 
last  he  would  not  know  enough  to  cover  his  shame. 
But  that  he  may  not  become  such  he  is  indeed  per- 
mitted to  think  about  and  to  will  the  evils  of  his 


404  THE  'DIVINE  ^PROVIDENCE 

inherited  nature,  but  not  to  talk  about  and  do  them; 
and  in  the  meantime  he  learns  civil,  moral,  and  spir- 
itual things,  and  these  enter  into  his  thoughts  and 
remote  the  insanities,  and  by  means  of  this  know- 
ledge he  is  healed  by  the  Lord ;  and  yet  no  further 
than  to  know  how  to  guard  the  door,  unless  he  also 
acknowledges  God  and  implores  His  help  that  he 
may  be  able  to  resist  the  insanities.  Then  so  far  as 
he  resists  them  so  far  he  refuses  them  admittance 
into  his  intentions,  and  finally  into  his  thoughts. 

Since,  then,  man  is  free  to  think  as  he  pleases, 
to  the  end  that  his  life's  love  may  come  forth  from 
its  lurking-places  into  the  light  of  his  understand- 
ing, and  since  otherwise  he  could  know  nothing 
about  his  evil,  and  therefore  could  not  shun  it,  it 
follows  that  the  evil  would  so  grow  in  him  that  no 
spot  for  restoration  would  be.  left  in  him,  and 
scarcely  any  in  his  children  if  he  should  beget  any, 
for  the  parent's  evil  is  transmitted  to  the  offspring. 
But  the  Lord  provides  that  this  shall  not  take  place. 

282.  It  would  have  been  possible  for  the  Lord 
to  heal  the  understanding  in  every  man,  and  thus 
cause  him  to  think  what  is  good  and  not  what  is 
evil,  and  this  by  fears  of  various  kinds,  by  miracles, 
by  conversations  with  the  dead,  and  by  visions  and 
dreams.  But  to  heal  the  understanding  alone  is 
to  heal  man  only  from  without ;  for  the  understand- 
ing with  its  thought  is  the  external  part  of  man's 
life,  while  the  will  with  its  affection  is  the  internal 
part  of  his  life;  consequently  the  healing  of  the  un- 
derstanding alone  would  be  like  palliative  healing, 


CHAPTER   XIV.,  N.  283  405 

whereby  the  interior  malignity,  shut  in  and  wholly 
prevented  from  going  out,  would  destroy  first  the 
near  and  then  the  remote  parts,  even  till  the  whole 
would  become  dead.  It  is  the  will  itself  that  must 
be  healed,  not  by  means  of  an  influx  into  it  of  the 
understanding,  for  that  is  not  possible,  but  by 
means  of  instruction,  and  exhortation  by  the  under- 
standing. If  the  understanding  alone  were  healed 
man  would  become  like  a  dead  body  embalmed  or 
encased  in  fragrant  aromatics  and  roses,  which 
would  soon  draw  from  the  corpse  so  foul  a  stench 
that  they  could  not  be  brought  near  to  any  one's 
nostrils.  So  would  it  be  with  heavenly  truths  in  the 
understanding  if  the  will's  evil  love  were  shut  in. 

283.  Man  is  permitted  to  think  about  evils, 
as  has  been  said,  even  so  far  as  to  purpose  to  do 
them,  in  order  that  they  may  be  removed  by  means 
of  civil,  moral,  and  spiritual  things  ;  and  this  is  done 
when  he  thinks  that  a  thing  is  contrary  to  what  is 
just  and  equitable,  to  what  is  honorable  and  becom- 
ing, and  to  good  and  truth  ;  thus  contrary  to  the 
tranquility,  the  joy,  and  the  blessedness  of  life.  By 
means  of  these  three,  civil  and  moral  and  spiritual 
things,  the  Lord  heals  the  love  of  man's  will,  first 
by  means  of  fears,  and  afterwards  by  means  of  loves. 
Nevertheless,  evils  are  not  separated  and  cast  out 
from  man,  but  are  only  removed  and  transferred  to 
the  sides ;  and  when  they  are  there  and  good  is  at 
the  centre,  evils  do  not  appear ;  for  whatever  is  at 
the  centre  is  direclly  under  view,  and  is  seen  and 
perceived.  But  it  must  be  kruown  that  although 


406  THE  'UIl/INb   TROYIDENCE 

good  is  at  the  centre  man  is  not  therefore  in  good 
unless  the  evils  that  are  at  the  sides  bend  down- 
ward or  outward  ;  if  they  look  upward  or  inward 
they  have  not  been  removed,  for  they  are  still  striv- 
ing to  return  to  the  centre.  They  bend  and  look 
downward  or  outward  when  man  is  shunning  his 
evils  as  sins,  and  still  more  when  he  turns  away  from 
them ;  for  he  then  condemns  and  assigns  them  to 
hell,  and  makes  them  look  hellwards. 

284.  Man's  understanding  is  a  recipient  of  both 
good  and  evil  and  of  both  truth  and  falsity,  but  his 
will  itself  is  not ;  this  must  be  either  in  evil  or  in 
good,  it  cannot  be  in  both,  for  the  will  is  the  man 
himself,  and  his  life's  love  is  there.  In  the  under- 
standing, however,  good  and  evil  are  separated,  like 
what  is  internal  and  what  is  external,  and  in  con- 
sequence man  can  be  interiorly  in  evil  and  exteri- 
orly in  good ;  and  yet  during  his  reformation  good 
and  evil  meet,  and  then  conflict  and  combat  arise ; 
this,  if  severe,  is  called  temptation,  but  if  not  severe 
it  goes  on  like  the  fermentation  of  wine  or  liquor. 
If  good  then  conquers, .  evil  with  its  falsity  is  re- 
moved to  the  sides,  comparatively  as  dregs  fall  to 
the  bottom  of  a  vessel ;  and  the  good  is  like  wine 
that  becomes  generous  after  fermentation,  or  liquor 
that  becomes  clear.  But  if  evil  conquers,  good  with 
its  truth  is  removed  to  the  sides,  and  becomes  tur- 
bid and  offensive,  like  unfermented  wine  or  liquor. 
This  process  is  compared  to  fermentation  because 
"ferment"  [leaven]  signifies  in  the  Word  the  falsity 
of  evil  (as  in  Hoseav\\.  4  ;  Luke  xii.  i ;  and  elsewhere). 


XV. 


THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  IS  EQUALLY  WITH  THE  EVIL  AND 
WITH  THE  GOOD. 


285. 

IN  every  man,  good  or  evil,  there  are  two  facul- 
ties, one  of  which  constitutes  the  understand- 
ing, and  the  other  the  will.  The  faculty  that 
constitutes  the  understanding  is  an  ability  to  un- 
derstand and  think ;  this  faculty  is  therefore  called 
rationality.  The  faculty  that  constitutes  the  will  is 
an  ability  to  do  these  things  freely,  that  is,  to  think 
and  consequently  to  speak  and  to  a£t  in  any  way 
not  contrary  to  reason  or  rationality ;  for  to  a(5t 
freely  is  to  acl;  whenever  one  pleases  and  as  he 
pleases.  Since  these  two  faculties  never  cease,  and 
are  continuous  from  firsts  to  lasts  in  all  things  and 
in  each  thing  that  man  thinks  and  does,  and  as 
they  are  not  in  man  from  himself  but  are  present 
with  him  from  the  Lord,  it  follows  that 'the  Lord's 
presence,  when  in  them,  is  in  the  particulars  and 
even  in  the  least  particulars  of  man's  understand- 
ing and  thought,  and  also  of  his  will  and  affection, 
and  in  the  least  particulars  of  his  speech  and  aclion 
therefrom.  Remove  these  faculties  from  any  least 
particular,  and  you  will  not  be  able  to  think  or 
speak  of  it  as  a  man. 


408  THE  W/INE  'PROVIDENCE 

It  has  been  abundantly  shown  already  that  it  is 
through  these  two  faculties  that  man  is  a  man,  that 
he  is  able  to  think  and  speak,  to  perceive  what  is 
good  and  to  understand  truths,  not  only  civil  and 
moral  but  also  spiritual,  also  to  be  reformed  and 
regenerated — in  a  word,  that  he  is  able  to  be  con- 
joined with  the  Lord  and  thereby  live  for  ever ; 
and  furthermore,  that  evil  men  as  well  as  good 
men  possess  these  two  faculties.  Since,  then,  these 
faculties  are  in  man  from  the  Lord,  and  are  not 
appropriated  to  man  as  his  (for  what  is  Divine  can- 
not be  appropriated  to  man  as  his,  but  can  be  ad- 
joined to  him  and  thereby  appear  as  his),  and  since 
this  Divine  with  man  is  in  the  least  particulars  of 
his  life,  it  follows  that  the  Lord  governs  every  least 
particular,  in  an  evil  man  as  well  as  in  a  good  man, 
for  the  Lord's  government  is  what  is  called  the 
Divine  providence. 

286.  And  since  it  is  a  law  of  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence that  man  shall  be  able  to  acl;  from  freedom 
in  accordance  with  reason,  that  is,  from  the  two 
faculties,  liberty  and  rationality,  and  since  it  is  also 
a  law  of  the  Divine  providence  that  what  a  man 
does  shall  seem  to  him  to  be  from  himself,  and 
therefore  to  be  his  own,  also  that  it  is  a  law  that 
evils  must  be  permitted  in  order  that  man  may  be 
led  out  of  them,  it  follows  that  man  has  the  ability 
to  misuse  these  faculties,  and  from  freedom  in 
accordance  with  reason  to  confirm  whatever  he 
pleases  ;  for  he  is  able  to  make  whatever  he  pleases 
to  be  reasonable,  whether  it  is  in  itself  reasonable 


CHAPTER   XV.,  N.  286  409 

or  not.  Consequently  some  say,  "What  is  truth? 
Am  I  not  able  to  make  anything  I  wish  to  be 
true?"  And  does  not  the  world  do  this?  And 
whoever  does  this  does  it  by  reasonings.  Assume 
the  falsest  proposition  and  ask  an  ingenious  man 
to  prove  it,  and  he  will  prove  it.  Ask  him,  for 
instance,  to  prove  that  man  is  a  beast ;  or  that  the 
soul  is  like  a  little  spider  in  its  web,  and  governs 
the  body  as  the  spider  governs  by  means  of  its 
threads ;  or  tell  him  that  religion  is  nothing  but  a 
mere  restraint — and  he  will  prove  any  one  of  the 
things  proposed  until  it  looks  as  if  it  were  true. 
What  is  easier?  For  he  knows  nothing  about  the 
nature  of  appearances,  or  of  falsity  assumed  as  truth 
from  a  blind  faith. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  man  is  unable  to  see 
this  truth,  namely,  that  the  Divine  providence  is 
in  the  least  particulars  of  the  understanding  and 
will,  or  what  is  the  same,  in  the  least  particulars 
of  thought  and  affection  in  every  man,  whether 
bad  or  good.  He  confuses  himself  especially  by 
the  thought  that  then  evils  also  would  be  from  the 
Lord  ;  but  it  will  be  seen  in  what  now  follows  that 
not  the  least  fraction  of  evil  is  from  the  Lord,  but 
that  evil  is  from  man  through  his  confirming  in 
himself  the  appearance  that  he  thinks,  wills,  speaks, 
and  acts  from  himself.  That  this  may  be  seen 
clearly  it  will  be  set  forth  in  the  following  order : 

(i.)     The  Divine  providence,  not  only  with  the 
good  but  with  the  evil  as  well,  is  uni- 


410  THE  ^lYlNE  TROWDENCE 


versal  in  every  least  particular  ;  and 
yet  it  is  not  in  their  evils. 

The  evil  are  continually  leading  themselves 
into  evils,  but  the  Lord  is  continually 
leading  them  away  from  evils. 

The  evil  cannot  be  wholly  led  by  the  Lord 
away  from  evil  and  into  good  so  long  as 
they  believe  their  own  intelligence  to  be 
everything  and  the  Divine  providence 
nothing. 

(iv.)  The  Lord  governs  hell  by  means  of  oppos- 
ites  ;  and  He  governs  in  hell  the  evil 
who  are  in  the  world  in  respecJ  to  their 
interiors,  biit  not  in  respecl  to  their  ex- 
teriors. 


287.  (i.)  The  Divine  providence,  not  only  with 
the  good  but  with  the  evil  as  well,  is  universal  in 
every  least  particular;  and  yet  it  is  not  in  their 
evils. — It  is  shown  above  that  the  Divine  provid- 
ence is  in  the  least  particulars  of  man's  thought 
and  affections ;  and  this  means  that  man  can  think 
and  will  nothing  from  himself,  but  that  every  thing 
that  he  thinks  and  wills,  and  says  and  does  there- 
from, is  from  influx ;  if  good  from  influx  out  of 
heaven,  and  if  evil  from  influx  from  hell ;  or  what 
is  the  same,  that  good  is  from  influx  from  the  Lord, 
and  evil  from  what  is  man's  own  (proprium).  But  I 
am  aware  that  this  can  scarcely  be  comprehended, 
because  a  distinction  is  made  between  that  which 
flows  out  of  heaven  or  from  the  Lord  and  that 
which  flows  out  of  hell  or  from  what  is  man's  own  ; 
and  yet  it  is  said  that  the  Divine  providence  is  in 
the  least  particulars  of  man's  thoughts  and  affec- 


CHAPTER  XV.,  N.  288  411 

tions,  even  to  the  extent  that  man  can  think  and 
will  nothing  from  himself.  But  when  it  is  added 
that:  he  can  also  do  this  from  hell,  also  from  what 
is  his  own,  there  appears  to  be  a  contradiction,  and 
yet  there  is  not.  That  there  is  no  contradiction 
will  be  seen  in  what  follows,  when  some  things  have 
been  premised  that  will  illustrate  the  matter. 

288.  That  no  one  can  think  from  himself,  but 
can  think  only  from  the  Lord,  all  the  angels  of 
heaven  confess ;  while  all  the  spirits  of  hell  declare 
that  no  one  can  think  from  any  other  than  himself. 
It  has  often  been  shown  to  these  spirits,  but  in 
vain,  for  they  were  unwilling  to  accept  it,  that  no 
one  of  them  thinks  or  can  think  from  himself,  but 
that  it  is  from  influx.  But  experience  will  teach,  in 
the  first  place,  that  every  thing  of  thought  and 
affection,  even  with  the  spirits  of  hell,  flows  in  out 
of  heaven ;  but  that  this  inflowing  good  is  there 
turned  into  evil  and  this  truth  into  falsity,  thus 
every  thing  into  its  opposite. 

This  has  been  shown  thus :  A  certain  truth  from 
the  Word  was  sent  down  out  of  heaven,  and  was 
received  by  those  who  were  in  the  upper  part  of 
hell,  and  by  them  it  was  sent  down  into  the  lower 
parts,  even  to  the  lowest ;  and  on  the  way  it  was 
gradually  turned  into  falsity,  and  at  last  into  a  fals- 
ity wholly  opposite  to  the  truth  ;  and  those  in  whom 
this  change  was  made  were  thinking  the  falsity  as 
if  from  themselves,  and  did  not  know  otherwise, 
although  the  truth  thus  falsified  and  perverted  was 
a  truth  flowing  down  out  of  heaven  on  its  way  to 


412  THE  DIVINE 

the  lowest  hell.  I  have  heard  three  or  four  times 
that  it  was  so  done.  The  same  is  true  of  good ; 
this  flowing  down  out  of  heaven  is  changed  as 
it  goes  into  the  evil  opposite  to  the  good.  Thus 
has  it  been  made  clear  that  truth  and  good  going 
forth  from  the  Lord  and  received  by  those  who 
are  in  falsity  and  in  evil  are  wholly  changed  and 
pass  into  another  form,  so  different  that  the  first 
form  is  not  apparent.  The  same  thing  takes  place 
with  every  evil  man,  for  he  in  respect  to  his  spirit 
is  in  hell. 

289.  It  has  been  shown  to  me  frequently  that 
no  one  in  hell  thinks  from  himself,  but  thinks  from 
others  about  him  ;  and  that  these  others  do  not 
think  from  themselves,  but  they,  too,  from  others ; 
and  that  thoughts  and  affections  pass  in  order 
from  one  society  to  another,  and  no  one  is  aware 
that  they  are  not  from  himself.  Some  who  believed 
that  they  thought  and  willed  from  themselves  were 
sent  into  a  society  and  were  detained  in  it,  and 
communication  with  the  neighboring  societies  to 
which  their  thoughts  were  usually  extended  was 
cut  off.  They  were  then  told  to  think  differently 
from  the  spirits  of  that  society  and  to  compel  them- 
selves to  think  in  an  opposite  way,  but  they  con- 
fessed that  it  was  impossible. 

This  was  done  with  many ;  and  even  with  Leib- 
nitz, who  was  convinced  that  no  one  thinks  from 
himself,  but  only  from  others ;  and  that  neither  do 
these  think  from  themselves,  but  that  all  think  by 
influx  out  of  heaven,  and  heaven  by  influx  from 


CHAPTER   XV.,  N.  296  413 

the  Lord.  Some  that  thought  carefully  about  this 
have  declared  it  to  be  astounding,  and  that  scarcely 
any  one  could  be  brought  to  believe  it,  because  it 
is  wholly  contrary  to  the  appearance,  and  yet  they 
could  not  deny  it,  because  it  was  fully  shown.  Nev- 
ertheless, even  while  they  were  wondering  about  it, 
they  said  that  they  could  not  then  be  blamed  for 
thinking  evil,  also  that  this  made  evil  seem  to  be 
from  the  Lord  ;  also  that  they  did  not  comprehend 
how  the  Lord  alone  could  cause  all  to  think  so  di- 
versely. But  these  three  points  shall  be  unfolded 
in  what  follows. 

290.  To  the  experiences  already  presented  let 
this  be  added :  When  it  was  granted  me  by  the 
Lord  to  speak  with  spirits  and  angels  this  arcanum 
was  at  once  disclosed  to  me  ;  for  I  was  told  from 
heaven  that,  like  others,  I  believed  that  I  thought 
and  that  I  willed  from  myself,  yet  in  facl;  nothing 
was  from  myself,  but  if  good  it  was  from  the  Lord., 
and  if  evil  it  was  from  hell.  That  this  was  true  I 
had  a  •  living  proof  in  various  thoughts  and  affec- 
tions induced  upon  me,  and  gradually  it  was  granted 
me  to  perceive  and  to  feel  it;  and  thereafter  as 
soon  as  any  evil  glided  into  my  will,  or  any  falsity 
into  my  thought,  I  inquired  into  its  source,  and 
this  was  disclosed  to  me,  and  I  was  permitted 
to  speak  with  those  from  whom  it  came,  to  confute 
them,  and  to  compel  them  to  withdraw,  and  thus 
to  take  back  their  evil  and  their  falsity  and  to  keep 
them  to  themselves,  and  no  longer  to  infuse  any 
such  thing  into  my  thought.  This  I  have  done  a 


414  THE  T)1V1NE 

thousand  times ;  and  I  have  now  continued  in  this 
state  for  many  years,  and  continue  in  it  still ;  and 
yet  I  seem  to  myself  to  think  and  to  will  from 
myself,  like  others,  with  no  difference ;  for  it  is  of 
the  Lord's  providence  that  it  should  so  appear  to 
every  one,  as  has  been  shown  above  in  its  proper 
place.  Novitiate  spirits  wonder  at  this  state  of 
mine,  for  it  seems  to  them  that  I  have  no  thought 
or  will  from  myself,  and  am  therefore  like  an  empty 
something.  But  I  laid  open  the  mystery  to  them, 
showing  that  while  I  think  interiorly  and  perceive 
what  flows  into  my  exterior  thoughts,  and  whether 
it  is  from  heaven  or  from  hell,  and  reject  what  is 
from  hell  and  receive  what  is  from  heaven,  I  still 
seem  to  myself  to  think  and  to  will  from  myself,  as 
it  seems  to  them. 

291.  That  all  good  is  from  heaven  and  all  evil 
from  hell,  is  not  among  the  things  unknown  in  the 
world ;  for  it  is  known  to  every  one  in  the  church. 
Who  in  the  church  that  has  been  inaugurated  into 
the  priesthood  does  not  teach  that  all  good  is  from 
God,  and  that  man  is  unable  from  himself  to  ac- 
cept anything  except  what  has  been  given  him  from 
heaven ;  also  that  it  is  the  devil  who  infuses  evils 
into  the  thoughts  of  men  and  leads,  them  astray 
and  excites  them  to  do  evils?  Therefore  the  priest 
who  believes  that  he  preaches  from  a  holy  zeal 
prays  that  the  Holy  Spirit  may  teach  him  and  di- 
rect his  thoughts  and  his  words  ;  and  some  declare 
that  they  have  sensibly  perceived  that  they  have 
been  so  actuated,  and  when  their  preaching  is  praised 


CHAPTER  XV.,  N.  292  415 

they  piously  reply  that  they  have  spoken  from  God 
and  not  from  themselves.  Moreover,  when  they 
see  any  one  speaking  well  or  doing  well  they  say 
that  he  has  been  led  to  it  by  God ;  and  on  the 
other  hand,  when  they  see  any  one  talking  or  act- 
ing  wickedly  they  say  that  he  has  been  led  to  it  by 
the  devil.  That  there  is  such  a  mode  of  speaking 
in  the  church  is  well  known  ;  but  who  believes  it  to 
be  true? 

292.  That  everything  that  a  man  thinks  and 
wills  and  speaks  and  does  therefrom  flows  in  from 
one  fountain  of  life,  and  yet  that  one  fountain  of 
life,  that  is,  the  Lord,  is  not  the  cause  of  man's 
thinking  evil  and  falsity,  can  be  illustrated  in  this 
way  from  the  natural  world :  That  from  its  sun  heat 
and  light  go  forth,  and  these  two  flow  into  all  sub- 
jects and  objects  that  appear  before  the  eyes,  both 
into  g$od  subjects  and  beautiful  objects  and  into 
evil  subjects  and  unbeautiful  objects,  and  produce 
in  these  a  variety  of  effects  ;  for  they  flow  both 
into  trees  that  bear  good  fruits  and  into  trees  that 
bear  evil  fruits,  and  even  into  the  fruits  themselves 
and  cause  them  to  grow.  They  flow  likewise  into 
good  seed  and  into  tares ;  al^o  into  shrubs  that 
have  a  good  use  or  are  wholesome,  and  into  shrubs 
that  have  an  evil  use  or  are  poisonous ;  and  yet  it 
is  the  same  heat  and  the  same  light,  in  which  there 
is  no  cause  of  evil ;  but  the  cause  is  in  the  recipi- 
ent subjects  and  objects. 

The  heat  that  hatches  eggs  containing  the 
screech-owl,  the  horned  owl,  or  the  viper,  acts  in 


416  THE  DIVINE  VROYIDENCE 

the  same  way  as  when  it  hatches  eggs  in  which  lie 
hidden  the  dove,  the  beautiful  bird,  or  the  swan. 
Put  eggs  of  the  two  kinds  under  a  hen,  and  they 
will  be  hatched  by  her  heat,  which  in  itself  is  free 
from  harm.  What,  then,  has  the  heat  in  common 
with  these  evil  and  noxious  things?  The  heat  that 
flows  into  marshy,  stercoraceous,  putrid,  and  cadav- 
erous substances  acts  in  the  same  way  as  when  it 
flows  into  things  vinous,  fragrant,  active  and  living. 
Who  does  not  see  that  the  cause  is  not  in  the  heat 
but  in  the  recipient  subject?  Again,  the  same  light 
presents  pleasing  colors  in  one  object  and  disagree- 
able colors  in  another;  it  even  grows  bright  and 
glows  in  objects  of  shining  whiteness,  and  becomes 
dim  and  dusky  in  those  verging  to  black. 

The  same  is  true  in  the  spiritual  world.  There, 
too,  there  are  heat  and  light,  from  its  sun,  which  is 
the  Lord  ;  and  from  that  sun  these  flow  into  their 
subjects  and  objects.  The  subjects  and  objects  there 
are  angels  and  spirits,  particularly  their  voluntary 
and  intellectual  capacities.  The  heat  there  is  the 
Divine  love  going  forth,  and  the  light  there  is  the 
Divine  wisdom  going  forth ;  and  these  are  not  the 
cause  of  the  difference  in  their  reception  by  one 
and  by  another,  for  the  Lord  says  that 

"  He  makes  his  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good, 
and  sends  rain  on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust "  (Matt. 
v.  45)- 

In  the  highest  spiritual  sense  "the  sun"  means  the 
Divine  love,  and  urain"  the  Divine  wisdom. 


CHAPTER  XV.,  N.  294  417 

*  293.  To  this  I  will  add  the  angelic  view  of 
will  and  intelligence  in  man,  which  is,  that  not  a 
grain  of  will  or  of  prudence  that  is  his  own  is  pos- 
sible in  any  man.  They  say  that  if  a  grain  were 
possible  in  any  one  neither  heaven  nor  hell  would 
continue  to  exist,  and  the  whole  human  race  would 
perish ;  and  the  reason  given  is  that  myriads  of 
myriads  of  men,  as  many  as  have  been  born  since 
the  creation  of  the  world,  constitute  heaven  and 
hell ;  and  these  are  arranged  in  such  an  order,  one 
under  another,  that  on  either  side  they  make  a 
one,  heaven  forming  one  beautiful  Man,  and  hell 
one  monstrous  Man.  If  any  one  of  these  had  a 
grain  of  will  -or  intelligence  of  his  own  that  oneness 
would  not  be  possible,  but  would  be  rent  asunder  ; 
and  with  it  would  perish  that  Divine  form,  which 
can  have  consistence  and  permanence  only  when 
the  Lord  is  the  All  in  all  things,  and  these  are 
utterly  nothing.  They  say  further,  that  this  is  so 
because  the  essential  Divine  is  to  think  and  to  will 
from  itself,  while  the  essential  human  is  to  think 
and  to  will  from  God ;  and  the  essential  Divine 
cannot  be  appropriated  to  any  man,  for  if  it  were 
man  would  be  God.  Keep  this  in  mind,  and  if 
you  wish  you  will  have  it  corroborated  by  the  an- 
gels when  after  death  you  go  to  the  spiritual 
world. 

294.  It  has  been  stated  above  (n.  289)  that 
when  some  were  convinced  that  no  one  thinks 
from  himself  but  only  from  others,  and  that  the 
others  think  not  from  themselves  but  from  influx 


418  THE  <L>/F/N£ 

through  heaven  from  the  Lord,  they  said  in  thefr 
wonder  that  they  could  not  then  be  blamed  for 
doing  evil ;  also  that  this  made  evil  seem  to  be 
from  the  Lord ;  also  that  they  did  not  comprehend 
how  the  Lord  alone  can  cause  all  to  think  so  di- 
versely. As  these  three  opinions  must  needs  flow 
into  the  thoughts  of  those  who  think  of  effects  only 
from  effects,  and  not  of  effecls  from  causes,  it  is 
necessary  to  take  them  up  and  explain  them  from 
causes. 

First :  They  could  not  then  be  blamed  for  doing 
evil.  For  if  every  thing  that  a  man  thinks  flows 
into  him  from  others  the  blame  would  seem  to  rest 
on  those  from  whom  it  comes ;  and  yet  the  blame 
itself  rests  on  him  who  receives,  for  he  receives  it 
as  his,  and  he  does  not  know  and  is  unwilling  to 
know  anything  to  the  contrary.  For  every  one 
wishes  to  be  his  own  and  to  be  led  by  himself,  and 
especially  to  think  and  to  will  from  himself;  for 
this  is  freedom  itself,  which  appears  as  the  own 
(proprium)  in  which  every  man  is.  If,  then,  he  knew 
that  what  he  thinks  and  wills  flows  in  from  another 
he  would  seem  to  himself  like  one  bound  and  cap- 
tive, and  no  longer  his  own  master ;  and  thus  all 
the  delight  of  his  life  would  perish,  and  finally  the 
human  itself. 

That  this  is  so  I  have  often  seen  proved.  It 
has  been  granted  to  some  to  perceive  and  feel  that 
they  were  led  by  others ;  they  then  became  so  en- 
raged as  to  lose  all  self-control,  and  declared  that 
they  would  rather  be  kept  bound  in  hell  than  not 


CHAPTER  XV.,  N.  294  419 

be  allowed  to  think  in  accordance  with  their  will 
and  to  will  in  accordance  with  their  thought.  Not 
to  be  allowed  to  do  this  they  called  being  bound 
in  their  very  life,  which  is  harder  and  more  intol- 
erable than  being  bound  in  body.  Not  to  be  al- 
lowed to  speak  and  acl:  in  accordance  with  their 
thought  and  will  they  did  not  call  being  bound  ; 
because  the  delight  in  civil  and  moral  life,  which 
consists  in  speaking  and  doing,  checks  and  as  it 
were  soothes  this  feeling. 

Since,  then,  man  is  not  willing  to  know  that  he 
is  led  to  think  by  others,  but  wishes  to  think  from 
himself,  and  believes  that  he  does  so,  he  must 
needs  conclude  that  he  is  blameable  ;  nor  can  he 
rid  himself  of  blame  so  long  as  he  loves  to  think 
what  he  is  thinking  ;  but  as  soon  as  he  ceases  to 
love  this  he  releases  himself  from  this  bond  to 
others.  This  takes  place  when  he  knows  that  a 
thing  is  evil,  and  wishes  in  consequence  to  shun  it 
and  refrain  from  it.  Then  he  is  taken  away  by 
the  Lord  from  the  society  that  is  in  that  evil,  and 
is  transferred  to  a  society  that  is  not  in  that  evil. 
But  if  he  knows  that  evil  and  does  not  shun  it  the 
blame  is  imputed  to  him  and  he  becomes  guilty  of 
that  evil.  Anything,  therefore,  that  a  man  believes 
that  he  does  from  himself  is  said  to  be  done  from 
him,  and  not  from  the  Lord. 

Secondly  :  This  makes  evil  to  seem  to  be  from 
the  Lord.  This  may  be  thought  to  be  a  conclusion 
from  what  has  been  shown  above  (n.  288),  namely, 
that  good  flowing  in  from  the  Lord  is  turned  in 


420  THE  TtlVlNE  'PROVIDENCE 

hell  into  evil,  and  truth  into  falsity.  But  anyone 
can  see  that  the  evil  and  falsity  are  not  from  the 
good  and  truth,  and  thus  from  the  Lord,  but  are 
from  the  recipient  subject  and  object,  which  is  in 
evil  and  falsity,  and  which  perverts  and  inverts  that 
which  flows  in,  as  is  fully  shown  above  (n.  292). 

But  it  has  been  frequently  shown  in  the  preced- 
ing pages  what  the  source  of  evil  and  falsity  is  in 
man.  In  the  spiritual  world  an  experiment  was 
made  with  those  who  believed  that  the  Lord  could 
remove  evils  in  the  wicked  and  could  put  goods  in 
their  place,  and  thus  transfer  all  hell  into  heaven 
and  save  all.  But  that  this  is  impossible  will  be 
shown  near  the  close  of  this  work,  where  instant 
salvation  and  mercy  apart  from  means  are  to  be 
treated  of. 

Thirdly  :  They  do  not  comprehend  how  the  Lord 
alone  can  cause  all  to  think  so  diversely.  The  Lord's 
Divine  love  is  infinite  and  His  Divine  wisdom  is 
infinite,  and  infinite  things  of  love  and  'of  wisdom 
go  forth  from  the  Lord,  and  these  flow  into  all  in 
heaven,  and  therefrom  into  all  in  hell,  and  from 
both  of  these  into  all  in  the  world  ;  therefore  think- 
ing and  willing  fail  in  no  one,  for  infinite  things  are 
all  things  without  limit.  Those  infinite  things  that 
go  forth  from  the  Lord  flow  in  both  universally 
and  also  most  particularly ;  for  the  Divine  is  uni- 
versal from  its  least  particulars;  and  it  is  these 
Divine  particulars  that  are  called  the  universal,  as 
has  been  shown  above ;  and  every  Divine  particu- 
lar is  also  infinite.  From  this  it  can  be  seen  that 


CHAPTER   XV. t  N.  296  421 

the  Lord  alone  causes  every  one  to  think  and  to 
will  in  accordance  with  his  quality  and  in  accord- 
ance with  the  laws  of  the  Divine  providence.  That 
all  things  that  are  in  the  Lord  and  go  forth  from 
the  Lord  are  infinite  has  been  shown  above  (n. 
46—69)  ;  and  also  in  the  work  on  The  Divine  Love 
and  the  Divine  Wisdom  (n.  17-22). 

295.  (ii.)  The  evil  are  continually  leading  them- 
selves into  evils,  but  the  Lord  is  continually  leading 
them  away  from  evils. — What  the   Lord's   Divine 
providence  is  with  the  good   is  more  easily  com- 
prehended  than  what   it  is  with  the  evil ;    but  as 
the  latter  is  now  treated  of  it  shall  be  told  in  the 
following  order:  (i.)  In  every  evil  there  are  things 
innumerable.     (2.)   An  evil  man  from  himself  con- 
tinually leads  himself  more  deeply  into  his  evils. 
(3.)   The  Divine  providence  with  the  evil  is  a  con- 
tinual permission  of  evil,  to  the  end  that  there  may 
be  a  continual  withdrawal  from  it.     (4.)   The  with- 
drawal  from    evil   is    effected   by  the    Lord   in   a 
thousand  ways,  and  even  in  most  secret  ways. 

296.  That  the  Divine  providence  with  the  evil 
may  be  more  clearly  seen  and  comprehended  the 
points  that  have  been  stated  shall  be  explained  in 
the  order  of  their  presentation.     First :   In  every 
evil  there  are  things  innumerable.     In  man's  sight 
every  evil   appears  as  one  simple  thing, — hatred 
and  revenge,  theft  and  fraud,  adultery  and  whore- 
dom,  pride   and   haughtiness,   and   other   evils,  so 
appear, — and    it   is  not  known  that   in   every  evil 


422  THE  T>iyiNE  'PROVIDENCE 

there  are  things  innumerable,  more  than  there  are 
fibres  and  vessels  in  a  man's  body.  For  an  evil 
man  is  hell  in  the  least  form ;  and  hell  consists  of 
myriads  of  myriads,  and  every  one  there  is  in  form 
like  a  man,  though  monstrous,  in  which  all  the 
fibres  and  vessels  are  inverted.  The  [evil]  spirit  is 
itself  an  evil,  appearing  to  itself  as  a  one  ;  but  as 
many  as  are  the  innumerable  things  in  a  spirit  so 
many  are  the  lusts  of  that  evil ;  for  every  man  is 
his  own  evil  or  his  own  good  from  the  head  to 
the  sole  of  the  foot.  Since,  then,  an  evil  man  is 
such,  it  is  evident  that  he  is  one  evil  composed  of 
innumerable  different  ones,  each  of  which  is  a  dis- 
tincl  evil ;  and  these  are  called  lustvS  of  evil.  From 
all  this  it  follows  that  all  these,  in  the  order  in 
which  they  are,  must  be  restored  and  turned  about 
by  the  Lord  that  man  may  be  reformed  ;  and  that 
this  can  be  done  only  by  the  Lord's  Divine  provid- 
ence, step  by  step,  from  the  earliest  period  of  man's 
life  to  the  last. 

Every  lust  of  evil  in  hell,  when  it  is  represented, 
appears  like  some  noxious  animal,  as  a  dragon,  or 
a  basilisk,  or  a  viper,  or  a  horned  owl,  or  a  screech- 
owl,  and  so  on ;  the  lusts  of  evil  in  an  evil  man 
have  a  like  appearance  when  he  is  looked  at  by 
angels.  All  these  forms  of  lusts  must  be  changed, 
one  by  one ;  the  man  himself  who  appears  in  re- 
specl:  to  his  spirit  as  a  monster  man  or  as  a  devil, 
must  be  so  changed  as  to  be  like  a  beautiful  angel ; 
and  every  evil  lust  must  be  so  changed  as  to  ap- 
pear like  a  lamb  or  a  sheep,  or  like  a  pigeon  or 


CHAPTER   XV.,  N.  296  423 

turtle-dove,  which  is  the  way  in  which  the  good 
affections  of  the  angels  appear  in  heaven  when 
they  are  represented ;  and  to  change  a  dragon  into 
a  lamb,  a  basilisk  into  a  sheep,  or  an  owl  into  a 
pigeon,  can  only  be  done  gradually  by  eradicating 
evil  from  its  seed  and  implanting  good  seed  in 
place  of  it.  This  can  only  be  done  comparatively 
as  in  the  grafting  of  trees,  the  roots  and  some  of 
the  trunk  of  which  remain,  and  yet  the  ingrafted 
branch  turns  the  sap  drawn  up  through  the  old 
root  into  a  sap  that  makes  good  fruit.  The  branch 
to  be  ingrafted  can  be  taken  from  no  other  source 
than  the  Lord,  who  is  the  Tree  of  Life.  This  is  in 
accordance  with  the  Lord's  words  {John  xv.  1-7). 

Secondly:  An  evil  man  from  himself  continually 
leads  himself  more  deeply  into  his  evils.  The  ex- 
pression, from  himself,  is  used  because  all  evil  is 
from  man,  for  man  turns  good  that  is  from  the 
Lord  into  evil,  as  has  been  said  above.  The  es- 
sential cause  of  the  evil  man's  leading  himself  more 
deeply  into  evil  is  that  as  he  wills  and  does  evil 
he  advances  more  and  more  interiorly,  and  also 
more  and  more  deeply,  into  infernal  societies,  and 
in  consequence  the  delight  of  evil  grows ;  and  this 
so  occupies  his  thoughts  that  at  length  nothing  is 
sweeter  to  his  sense.  And  he  who  has  advanced 
more  interiorly  and  deeply  into  infernal  societies 
becomes  as  if  he  were  bound  with  cords  :  although 
so  long  as  he  lives  in  the  world  he  does  not  feel 
the  cords,  they  are  as  if  made  of  soft  wool  or 
smooth  threads  of  silk,  which  he  loves  because 


424  THE  'DIISINE  TROYIDENCE 

they  titillate.  But  after  death  these  cords  from  be- 
ing soft  become  hard,  and  instead  of  titillating  they 
become  galling. 

That  the  delight  of  evil  is  augmented  is  known 
from  thefts,  robberies,  depredations,  revenge,  tyran- 
ny, money-getting,  and  other  evils.  Who  does  not 
feel  the  exaltation  of  delight  in  these  things  in  the 
measure  of  his  success  and  unrestrained  indulgence? 
It  is  known  that  a  thief  feels  such  delight  in  thefts 
that  he  is  unable  to  refrain,  and  what  is  wonder- 
ful, that  he  has  more  love  for  one  coin  that  is 
stolen  than  for  ten  received  as  a  gift.  The  same 
would  be  true  of  adultery  if  it  had  not  been  pro- 
vided that  this  evil  decreases  in  potency  in  the 
measure  of  the  abuse ;  although  with  many  a  de- 
light in  thinking  and  talking  about  it  remains,  and 
if  nothing  more  there  is  still  the  lust  of  touch. 

But  it  is  not  known  that  this  increase  of  delight 
comes  of  man's  advancing  into  infernal  societies 
more  and  more  interiorly  and  more  and  more 
deeply,  as  from  will  and  at  the  same  time  from 
thought  he  commits  the  evils.  So  long  as  the  evils 
are  in  thought  alone,  and  not  in  the  will,  man  is 
not  in  an  infernal  society  with  the  evil,  but  he  en- 
ters it  as  soon  as  the  evils  are  also  in  the  will. 
And  if  he  then  thinks  that  this  evil  is  contrary  to 
the  commandments  of  the  decalogue,  and  regards 
the  commandments  as  Divine,  he  commits  the  evil 
designedly,  and  thereby  sinks  himself  to  a  depth 
from  which  he  can  be  led  forth  onlv  by  actual  re- 
pentance. 


CHAPTER   XV.,  N.  296  425 

It  must  be  understood  that  in  respe6l  to  his 
spirit  every  man  is  in  the  spiritual  world,  in  some 
society  there — an  evil  man  in  an  infernal  society, 
and  a  good  man  in  a  heavenly  society,  and  some- 
times when  in  deep  meditation  he  appears  there ; 
also  that  as  the  sound  of  the  voice  with  the  spoken 
words  spreads  itself  all  about  in  the  air  of  the  nat- 
ural world,  so  affeclion  with  thought  spreads  itself 
into  societies  in  the  spiritual  world  ;  and  this  is  a 
correspondence,  for  affeclion  corresponds  to  sound 
and  thought  to  speech. 

Thirdly  :  The  Divine  providence  with  the  evil  is 
a  continual  permission  of  evil,  to  the  end  that  there 
may  be  a  continual  withdrawal  from  it.  The  Di- 
vine providence  with  evil  men  is  a  continual  per- 
mission, because  nothing  but  evil  can  go  forth  from 
their  life ;  for  man  is  either  in  good  or  in  evil,  he 
cannot  be  in  both  at  the  same  time,  nor  alternately 
unless  he  is  lukewarm  ;  and  it  is  not  the  Lord  but 
man  that  introduces  evil  of  life  into  the  will  and 
through  the  will  into  the  thought.  This  is  what  is 
called  permission. 

Since,  then,  all  things  that  an  evil  man  wills  and 
thinks  are  of  permission,  it  may  be  asked  what  the 
Divine  providence  therein  is  which  is  said  to  be  in 
the  least  particulars  in  every  man,  whether  evil  or 
good.  But  it  consists  in  this,  that  it  continually 
permits  for  the  sake  of  the  end,  and  permits  such 
things  as  pertain  to  the  end  and  nothing  else ;  and 
the  evils  that  go  forth  from  permission  it  contin- 
ually surveys,  separates,  and  purifies,  sending  away 


426  THE   'DIVINE  TROYIDENCE 

things  discordant  and  discharging  them  by  un- 
known ways.  These  processes  take  place  especially 
in  man's  interior  will,  and  from  this  in  his  interior 
thought.  The  Divine  providence  is  also  unceasing 
in  keeping  watch  that  what  must  be  sent  away  and 
discharged  be  not  received  again  by  the  will ;  since 
all  things  that  are  received  by  the  will  are  appro- 
priated to  the  man,  while  whatever  is  received  by 
the  thought  and  not  by  the  will  is  separated  and 
banished.  Such  is  the  Lord's  continual  providence 
with  the  evil,  which  is,  as  has  been  said,  a  contin- 
ual permission,  to  the  end  that  there  may  be  an 
unceasing  withdrawal. 

Of  all  this  man  knows  scarcely  anything,  be- 
cause he  has  no  perception  of  it.  The  primary 
reason  that  he  has  no  perception  of  it  is  that  these 
evils  are  the  evils  pertaining  to  the  lusts  of  his  life's 
love ;  and  these  evils  are  not  felt  as  evils  but  as 
delights  to  which  no  one  gives  attention.  Who  at- 
tends to  the  delights  of  his  love?  His  thought 
floats  on  in  them  like  a  boat  borne  by  the  current 
of  a  river,  and  there  is  a  perception  as  it  were  of 
a  fragrant  atmosphere  which  is  inhaled  with  a  full 
breath.  Only  in  his  external  thought  can  he  feel 
something  of  them,  and  even  there  he  gives  no  at- 
tention to  them  unless  he  knows  well  that  they 
are  evils.  But  of  this  more  in  what  follows. 

Fourthly  :  The  withdrawal  from  evil  is  effected 
by  the  Lord  in  a  thousand  ways,  and  even  in  most 
secret  ways.  Only  some  of  these  have  been  dis- 
closed to  me,  and  none  but  the  most  general,  which 


CHAPTER   Xf.,  N.  296  427 

are  these :  The  delights  of  lusts  of  which  man  has 
no  knowledge  are  emitted  in  companies  or  in  bun- 
dles into  the  interior  thoughts  that  belong  to  man's 
spirit,  and  therefrom  into  his  exterior  thoughts,  in 
which  they  appear  under  a  kind  of  feeling  of  satis- 
faction or  pleasure  or  longing ;  and  there  they 
are  mingled  with  his  natural  and  sensual  delights. 
There,  too,  are  the  means  of  separation  and  purifi- 
cation, and  also  the  ways  of  withdrawal  and  dis- 
charge. The  means  are  chiefly  the  delights  of 
meditation,  of  thought,  and  of  reflection  for  the 
sake  of  certain  ends  which  are  uses ;  and  the  ends, 
which  are  uses,  are  as  many  as  are  the  particulars 
and  least  particulars  of  one's  business  and  office. 
Or  again,  they  are  as  many  as  the  delights  of  re- 
flection, to  the  end  that  he  may  appear  like  a  civil 
and  moral  man  and  also  like  a  spiritual  man  ;  be- 
sides the  undelightful  things  that  insert  themselves. 
These  delights,  because  they  belong  to  one's  love 
in  the  external  man,  are  the  means  of  separation, 
purification,  excretion,  and  withdrawal  of  the  de- 
lights of  the  lusts  of  evil  belonging  to  the  internal 
man. 

Take,  for  example,  an  unjust  judge  who  regards 
gains  or  friendship  as  ends  or  as  uses  of  his  office ; 
inwardly  he  is  continually  in  these  things,  but  out- 
wardly he  aims  to  act  like  a  skilled  lawyer  and  a 
just  man.  He  is  constantly  in  the  delight  of  med- 
itation, thought,  reflection,  and  purpose,  that  he 
may  so  bend,  turn,  adapt,  and  adjifst  the  right  that 
there  may  still  appear  to  be  a  conformity  with  the 


428  THE  'DIVINE  VROVIDENCZ 

laws  and  a  semblance  of  justice,  not  knowing-  that 
his  internal  delight  consists  of  cunning,  frauds,  de- 
ceits, clandestine  thefts,  and  many  other  things,  and 
that  this  delight,  made  up  of  so  many  delights  of 
the  lusts  of  evil,  rules  in  all  things  and  each  thing 
of  his  external  thought,  wherein  are  the  delights 
of  appearing  to  be  just  and  sincere.  The  internal 
delights  are  let  down  into  these  external  delights, 
and  are  mixed  with  them  like  various  kinds  of  food 
in  the  stomach  ;  and  there  they  are  separated,  puri- 
fied, and  conducted  away  ;  nevertheless,  this  is  done 
only  with  the  most  noxious  delights  of  the  lusts  of 
evil. 

For  with  an  evil  man  no  separation,  purification, 
and  withdrawal  is  possible  except  of  the  more  nox- 
ious evils  from  the  less  noxious  ;  while  with  a  good 
man  there  can  be  not  only  a  separation,  purification, 
and  withdrawal  of  the  more  noxious  evils,  but  also 
of  the  less  noxious  ;  and  this  is  done  by  means  of 
the  delights  of  affeclions  for  what  is  good  and  true 
and  for  what  is  just  and  sincere,  into  which  he 
comes  so  far  as  he  regards  evils  as  sins  and  in  con- 
sequence shuns  them  and  turns  away  from  them, 
and  still  more  if  he  fights  against  them.  Such  are 
the  means  by  which  the  Lord  purifies  all  who  are 
saved.  These  He  also  purifies  by  external  means, 
which  are  the  interests  of  fame  and  honor,  and 
sometimes  of  wealth  ;  although  there  is  implanted 
in  these  by  the  Lord  the  delights  of  affections  for 
good  and  truth,  by  which  they  are  set  in  order  and 
are  fitted  to  become  delights  of  love  of  the  neighbor. 


CHAPTER    XV.,  N.  296  429 

If  one  could  see  the  delights  of  the  lusts  of  evil 
together  in  some  form,  or  if  he  could  clearly  per- 
ceive them  by  any  sense?  he  would  see  and  perceive 
them  to  be  too  numerous  to  be  denned ;  for  all  hell 
is  nothing  but  a  form  of  all  the  lusts  of  evil,  and 
there  no  lust  of  evil  is  exactly  like  another  or  the 
same  as  another,  neither  can  there  be  to  eternity. 
And  of  these  numberless  lusts  man  knows  scarcely 
anything,  still  less  how  they  are  connected.  Nev- 
ertheless, the  Lord  through  His  Divine  providence 
continually  permits  them  to  come  forth,  to  the  end 
that  they  may  be  taken  away,  which  is  done  in 
every  order  and  series.  An  evil  man  is  a  hell  in 
the  least  form,  as  a  good  man  is  a  heaven  in  the 
least  form. 

That  this  withdrawal  from  evils  is  effected  by 
the  Lord  in  a  thousand  ways,  even  the  most  secret 
ways,  one  can  best  see  and  be  convinced  of  by 
comparison  with  the  secret  operations  of  the  soul 
in  the  body.  Those  that  man  has  any  knowledge 
of  are  the  following :  The  food  that  he  is  about 
to  eat  he  looks  at,  perceives  the  odor  of,  hungers 
for,  tastes,  chews  with  his  teeth,  rolls  to  the  oesoph- 
agus with  his  tongue,  and  thus  into  the  stomach. 
But  the  soul's  secret  workings,  of  which  man  knows 
nothing  because  he  has  no  sensation  of  them,  are 
these :  That  the  stomach  rolls  about  the  food  re- 
ceived, opens  and  separates  it  by  means  of  solvents, 
that  is,  digests  it,  offers  fitting  portions  of  it  to  the 
little  mouths  there  opening  and  to  the  veins  that 
drink  them  in,  sends  some  to  the  blood,  some  to 


430  THE  'DIVINE  TROWDENCE 

the  lymphatic  vessels,  some  to  the  lacteal  vessels  of 
the  mesentery,  and  some  down  to  the  intestines ; 
and  finally  the  chyle,  conveyed  through  the  thoracic 
duel;  from  its  receptacle  in  the  mesentery,  is  carried 
into  the  vena  cava,  and  so  into  the  heart,  and  from 
the  heart  into  the  lungs,  from  them  through  the 
left  ventricle  of  the  heart  into  the  aorta,  and  from 
this  by  its  branches  into  the  viscera  of  the  whole 
body  and  to  the  kidneys  ;  and  in  every  one  of  these 
organs  a  separation  of  the  blood,  a  purification  and 
a  withdrawal  of  heterogeneous  substances  is  effected  ; 
not  to  speak  of  how  the  heart  presents  its  blood, 
when  defecated  in  the  lungs,  to  the  brain,  which  is 
done  through  the  arteries  called  carotids,  and  how 
the  brain  returns  the  blood  vivified  to  the  vena 
cava  (just  above  where  the  thoracic  duel:  brings  in 
the  chyle),  and  so  back  again  to  the  heart. 

These  and  innumerable  others  are  the  secret 
operations  of  the  soul  in  the  body.  These  oper- 
ations are  not  felt  by  man,  and  he  who  is  not  versed 
in  the  science  of  anatomy  knows  nothing  about 
them.  And  yet  similar  things  take  place  in  the 
interiors  of  man's  mind  ;  for  nothing  can  take  place 
in  the  body  except  from  the  mind ;  for  man's  mind 
is  his  spirit,  and  his  spirit  is  equally  a  man,  with 
the  difference  only  that  whatever  is  done  in  the 
body  is  done  naturally,  and  whatever  is  done  in  the 
mind  is  done  spiritually ;  the  similitude  is  com- 
plete. From  all  this  it  is  evident  that  the  Divine 
providence  works  in  every  man  in  a  thousand  ways, 
even  to  the  most  secret,  and  that  its  unceasing  end 


CHAPTER   XV.,  N.  297  431 

is  to  purify  him,  because  its  end  is  to  save  him ; 
and  that  nothing  is  incumbent  on  man  except  to 
remove  evils  in  the  external  man.  All  the  rest  the 
Lord  provides  if  He  is  appealed  to. 

297.  (iii.)  The  evil  cannot  be  wholly  led  by  the 
Lord  away  from  evil  and  into  good  so  long  as  they 
believe  their  own  intelligence  to  be  everything,  and 
the  Divine  providence  nothing. — The  appearance  is 
that  man  has  the  ability  to  withdraw  himself  from 
evil,  provided  he  thinks  this  or  that  to  be  contrary 
to  the  common  good,  contrary  to  what  is  useful, 
and  contrary  to  the  law  of  the  nation  and  of  na- 
tions. This  an  evil  man  can  do  as  well  as  a  good 
man,  provided  he  is  such  by  birth  or  by  practice  as 
to  be  able  inwardly  in  himself  to  think  analytically 
and  rationally  with  some  clearness.  But  he  is  not 
able  to  withdraw  himself  from  evil.  And  the  rea- 
son of  this  is  that  while  the  Lord  gives  to  every 
man,  the  good  and  the  evil  alike,  the  capacity  to 
understand  and  perceive  things,  even  abstractly, 
as  has  been  shown  above  throughout,  yet  man  from 
that  capacity  is  not  able  to  deliver  himself  from  evil, 
because  evil  belongs  to  the  will,  and  the  under- 
standing flows  into  the  will  only  as  with  light,  en- 
lightening and  teaching ;  and  if  the  heat  of  the  will, 
that  is,  man's  life's  love,  is  glowing  with  a  lust  of 
evil  it  is  frigid  in  affection  for  good ;  and  in  conse- 
quence, he  does  not  receive  [that  light],  but  either 
rejects  or  extinguishes  it,  or  by  some  contrived  fals- 
ity turns  it  into  evil.  It  is  in  this  as  with  the  light 


432  THE  ViyiNE  TROflDENCE 


of  winter,  which  is  equally  clear  with  the  summer's 
light,  and  ads  in  a  like  manner  as  it  flows  in  upon 
the  frozen  trees.  But  this  can  be  seen  more  fully 
in  the  following  order  :  (i.)  One's  own  intelligence, 
when  the  will  is  in  evil,  sees  nothing  but  falsity,  and 
has  no  desire  or  ability  to  see  anything  else.  (2.)  If 
one's  own  intelligence  then  sees  truth  it  either  turns 
itself  away  or  it  falsifies  the  truth.  (3.)  The  Di- 
vine providence  continually  causes  man  to  see 
truth,  and  also  gives  an  affection  for  perceiving  it 
and  for  receiving  it.  (4.)  By  this  means  man  is 
withdrawn  from  evil,  not  by  himself,  but  by  the 
Lord. 

298.  But  that  these  things  may  be  made  evi- 
dent to  the  rational  man,  whether  he  be  an  evil  or 
a  good  man,  thus  whether  he  be  in  the  light  of  win- 
ter or  of  summer  (for  colors  appear  the  same  in 
both),  they  shall  be  explained  in  their  order.  First  : 
One's  own  intelligence,  when  the  will  is  in  evil,  sees 
nothing  but  falsity,  and  has  no  desire  or  ability  to 
see  any  thing  else.  This  has  often  been  shown  in 
the  spiritual  world.  Every  man  when  he  becomes 
a  spirit,  which  takes  place  after  death  (for  he  then 
puts  off  the  material  body  and  puts  on  the  spirit- 
ual), is  introduced  by  turns  into  the  two  states  of 
his  life,  the  external  and  the  internal.  While  he 
is  in  the  external  state  he  speaks  and  acls  ration- 
ally and  wisely,  just  as  a  rational  and  wise  man  does 
in  the  world  ;  he  can  also  teach  others  many  things 
that  pertain  to  moral  and  civil  life  ;  and  if  he  has 
been  a  preacher  he  can  teach  things  pertaining  to 


CHAPTER   XV.,  N.  298  453 

spiritual  life.  But  when  from  this  external  state 
he  is  let  into  his  internal,  and  the  external  is  put 
to  sleep  and  the  internal  is  awakened,  if  he  is  an 
evil  man  the  scene  is  changed ;  from  being  rational 
he  becomes  sensual,  and  from  being  wise  he  be- 
comes insane,  for  he  then  thinks  from  the  evil  of 
his  will  and  its  delight,  thus  from  his  own  intelli- 
gence, and  he  sees  nothing  but  falsity  and  does  no* 
thing  but  evil,  believing  that  wickedness  is  wisdom 
and  that  cunning  is  prudence ;  and  from  his  own 
intelligence  he  believes  himself  to  be  a  deity,  and 
with  his  whole  mind  drinks  in  nefarious  schemes. 

Such  insanities  I  have  often  seen ;  I  have  also 
seen  spirits  let  into  these  alternate  states  two  or 
three  times  within  an  hour  ;  and  they  were  then  per- 
mitted to  see  their  insanities  and  to  acknowledge 
them  ;  nevertheless  they  were  unwilling  to  remain 
in  a  rational  and  moral  state,  but  turned  themselves 
back  of  their  own  accord  into  their  internal  state, 
which  was  sensual  and  insane,  for  they  loved  this 
more  than  the  other,  because  the  delight  of  their 
life's  love  was  in  it.  Who  can  believe  that  an 
evil  man  is  such  behind  his  outward  appe'arance, 
and  that  he  undergoes  such  a  transformation  when 
he  enters  into  what  is  within?  From  this  experi- 
ence alone  it  can  be  seen  what  one's  own  intelli- 
gence is  when  he  thinks  and  acls  from  the  evil  of 
his  will.  It  is  otherwise  with  the  good  :  when  these 
from  the  external  state  are  admitted  into  the  inter- 
nal they  become  still  wiser  and  better  behaved. 

Secondly :    If  one's  own  intelligence  then  sees 


434  THE  <D/F/N£ 

truth  it  either  turns  itself  away  or  it  falsifies  the 
truth.  Man  has  a  voluntary  self  (proprium)  and  an 
intellectual  self;  the  voluntary  self  is  evil,  and  the 
intellectual  self  is  falsity  therefrom  ;  the  latter  is 
meant  by  "the  will  of  man,"  and  the  former  by 
"the  will  of  the  flesh"  (in  John  i.  13).  The  vol- 
untary self  in  its  essence  is  love  of  self,  and  the  in- 
tttleclual  is  conceit  from  that  love ;  these  two  are 
like  two  consorts,  and  their  marriage  is  called  the 
marriage  of  evil  and  falsity.  Every  evil  spirit  is 
admitted  into  this  marriage  before  he  comes  into 
hell,  and  when  he  is  in  it  he  does  not  know  what 
good  is,  for  he  calls  his  evil  good  because  he  feels 
it  to  be  delightful ;  and  he  then  turns  away  from 
the  truth  and  is  unwilling  to  see  it,  because  he  sees 
the  falsity  that  is  in  harmony  with  his  evil  as  the 
eye  sees  what  is  beautiful,  and  he  hears  it  as  the  ear 
hears  what  is  harmonious. 

Thirdly:  The  Divine  providence  continually  causes 
man  to  see  trutli,  and  aho  gives  an  ajfeElion  for 
perceiving  it  and  receiving  it.  This  is  done  be- 
cause the  Divine  providence  acls  from  the  interior, 
and  through  it  flows  into  exteriors,  that  is,  from  the 
spiritual  into  the  things  that  are  in  the  natural  man ; 
and  by  the  light  of  heaven  enlightens  the  under- 
standing, and  by  the  heat  of  heaven  vivifies  the 
will.  The  light  of  heaven  in  its  essence  is  Divine 
wisdom,  and  the  heat  of  heaven  in  its  essence  is  Di- 
vine love,  and  from  the  Divine  wisdom  nothing  else 
can  flow  in  but  truth,  and  from  the  Divine  love  no- 
thing else  can  flow  in  but  good  ;  and  from  this  tire 


CHAPTER  XV.,  N.  298  435 

Lord  gives  in  the  understanding  an  affection  for 
seeing  truth  and  also  for  perceiving  and  receiving  it. 
Thus  man  becomes  a  man  both  in  external  and  in 
internal  aspect.  Does  not  every  one  wish  to  appear 
a  rational  and  spiritual  man  ?  And  does  not  every 
one  know  that  he  wishes  so  to  appear,  that  he  may 
be  believed  by  others  to  be  a  true  man  ?  If,  there- 
fore, he  is  rational  and  spiritual  in  external  form 
only,  and  not  also  in  internal  form,  is  he  a  man  ? 
Is  he  anything  but  as  a  player  upon  the  stage  or 
as  an  ape  with  a  face  almost  human  ?  From  this 
can  it  not  be  acknowledged  that  he  alone  is  a  man 
who  is  interiorly  what  he  wishes  to  seem  to  others 
to  be?  He  who  acknowledges  the  one  must  ac- 
knowledge the  other.  One's  own  intelligence  can 
establish  the  human  form  in  externals  only  ;  but  the 
Divine  providence  establishes  that  form  in  the  in- 
ternals, and  through  these  in  the  externals  ;  and 
when  it  has  been  so  established  man  does  not  merely 
appear  to  be  a  man  but  he  is  a  man. 

Fourthly  :  By  this  means  man  is  withdrawn 
from  evil,  not  by  himself  but  by  the  Lord.  When 
the  Divine  providence  enables  man  to  see  truth, 
and  at  the  same  time  gives  him  an  affection  for  it, 
man  can  be  withdrawn  from  evil,  because  truth  in- 
structs and  directs,  and  when  the  will  does  accord- 
ingly it  conjoins  itself  with  the  truth,  and  in  itself 
it  turns  the  truth  into  good  ;  for  the  truth  comes 
to  be  of  its  love,  and  what  is  of  the  love  is  good. 
All  reformation  is  effected  by  means  of  truth,  and 
not  without  it ;  for  without  truth  the  will  is  con- 


436  THE  Til'/lNE   VRO1/IDENCE 

tinually  in  its  own  evil,  and  if  it  consults  the  under- 
standing it  is  not  instructed,  but  the  evil  is  con- 
firmed by  falsities. 

In  respecl:  to  intelligence,  it  appears  both  to  the 
good  man  and  f.o  the  evil  man  to  be  his,  even  his 
own  ;  moreover,  a  good  man  is  bound  to  a£t  from 
intelligence  as  if  it  were  his  own  just  as  much  as 
an  evil  man  ;  but  fre  that  believes  in  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence is  withdrawn  from  evil,  while  he  that  does 
not  believe  is  not  withdrawn ;  and  he  believes  who 
acknowledges  evil  to  be  sin  and  wishes  to  be  with- 
drawn from  it,  while  he  does  not  believe  who  does 
not  so  acknowledge  and  wish.  The  difference  be- 
tween these  two  kinds  of  intelligence  is  like  the 
difference  between  that  which  is  believed  to,  be  in 
itself,  and  that  which  is  believed  not  to  be  in  itself 
and  yet  as  if  in  itself;  or  it  is  like  the  difference  be- 
tween an  external  without  a  correlative  internal  and 
an  external  with  a  correlative  internal ;  thus  it  is 
like  the  difference  between  the  words  and  gestures 
of  mimics  and  actors  who  personate  kings,  princes, 
and  generals,  and  the  kings,  princes,  and  generals 
themselves ;  the  latter  are  such  both  inwardly  and 
outwardly,  while  the  others  are  such  only  outwardly, 
and  when  this  outward  is  put  off  they  are  called 
comedians,  performers,  and  players. 

299.  (iv.)  The  Lord  governs  hell  by  oppos- 
ite s ;  a?id  He  governs  in  hell  the  evil  who  are  in 
the  world  in  respecl  io  their  interiors,  but  not  in  re- 
specl to  their  exteriors. — He  that  does  not  know 


CHAPTER   XV.,  N.  JOO  437 

what  heaven  is  and  what  hell  is  can  know  nothing 
about  what  man's  mind  is.  The  mind  of  man  is  his 
spirit  that  lives  after  death.  This  is  because  the 
mind  or  spirit  of  man  is  wholly  in  the  form  in  which 
heaven  is  or  in  which  hell  is ;  there  is  not  the 
slightest  difference,  except  that  one  is  the -greatest 
and  the  other  the  least,  or  that  one  is  the  effigy 
and  the  other  the  type.  Consequently  in  respecl:  to 
his  mind  or  spirit  man  is  either  a  heaven  or  a  hell 
in  the  least  form.  He  that  is  led  by  the  Lord  is  a 
heaven,  and  he  that  is  led  by  what  is  his  own  is 
a  hell.  Since,  then,  it  has  been  granted  me  to 
know  what  heaven  is  and  what  hell  is,  and  it  is  im- 
portant to  know  what  man  is  in  respecl:  to  his  mind 
or  spirit,  I  will  describe  both  briefly. 

300.  All  that  are  in  heaven  are  nothing  but 
affections  for  good  and  thoughts  of  truth  therefrom, 
and  all  that  are  in  hell  are  nothing  but  lusts  of 
evil  and  imaginations  of  falsity  therefrom ;  and 
these  are  so  arranged  on  either  side  that  the  lusts 
of  evil  and  the  imaginations  of  falsity  in  hell  are 
direclly  opposed  to  the  affections  for  good  and  the 
thoughts  of  truth  in  heaven.  Consequently  hell  is 
under  heaven,  diametrically  opposite  to  it ;  that  is, 
diametrically  opposite  like  two  men  lying  in  op- 
posite ways,  or  standing  as  antipodes,  thus  in- 
versely to  each  other  and  meeting  at  the  soles  of 
the  feet,  or  with  the  heels  together.  Sometimes 
hell  is  seen  to  be  so  situated  or  reversed  in  respecl: 
to  heaven.  This  is  because  those  that  are  in  hell 
make  lusts  of  evil  the  head  and  affections  for  good 


438  THE  ^DIYINE  TROl^IDENCE 

the  feet,  while  those  who  are  in  heaven  make  affec- 
tions for  good  the  head  and  lusts  of  evil  the  soles 
of  the  feet ;  hence  the  mutual  opposition.  When 
it  is  said  that  in  heaven  there  are  affections  for  good 
and  consequent  thoughts  of  truth,  and  in  hell  there 
are  lusts  of  evil  and  consequent  imaginations  of 
falsity,  it  is  meant  that  there  are  spirits  and  angels 
there  who  are  such ;  for  every  one  is  his  own  affec- 
tion or  his  own  lust,  an  angel  of  heaven  is  his  own 
affection  and  a  spirit  of  hell  is  his  own  lust. 

301.  The  angels  of  heaven  are  affections  for 
good  and  consequent  thoughts  of  truth,  because 
they  are  recipients  of  Divine  love  and  Divine  wis- 
dom from  the  Lord.  All  affections  for  good  are 
from  the  Divine  love,  and  all  thoughts  of  truth  are 
from  the  Divine  wisdom.  But  the  spirits  of  hell  are 
lusts  of  evil  and  consequent  imaginations  of  falsity, 
because  they  are  in  the  love  of  self  and  in  their 
own  intelligence,  and  all  lusts  of  evil  are  from  the 
love  of  self,  and  the  imaginations  of  falsity  are  from 
one's  own  intelligence. 

302.  The  arrangement  of  affections  in  heaven 
and  of  lusts  in  hell  is  wonderful,  and  is  known  to 
the  Lord  alone.  In  each  they  are  distinguished 
into  genera  and  species,  and  are  so  conjoined  as  to 
act  as  one.  And  because  they  are  distinguished 
into  genera  and  species  they  are  distinguished  into 
societies  greater  and  less ;  and  because  they  are 
so  conjoined  as  to  act  as  one  they  are  conjoined 
like  all  the  things  that  are  in  man.  Consequently 
heaven  in  its  form  is  like  a  beautiful  man,  whose 


CHAPTER    XV.,  N.  304  439 

soul  is  the  Divine  love  and  Divine  wisdom,  thus  the 
Lord ;  and  hell  in  its  form  is  like  a  monstrous  man, 
whose  soul  is  the  love  of  self  and  self-intelligence, 
thus  the  devil;  for  there  is  no  devil  who  is  sole 
lord  there,  but  the  love  of  self  is  called  the  devil. 

303.  But  in  order  to  make  it  more  clear  what 
heaven  is  and  what  hell  is,  let  delights  of  good  be 
substituted  for  affections  for  good,  and  delights  of 
evil  for  lusts  of  evil ;  for  there   is  no  affection  or 
lust  without  delight,  since  these  make  the  life  of 
every  one.   These  delights  are  what  are  distinguished 
and  conjoined  in  the  way  described  above  respect- 
ing affections  for  good  and  lusts  of  evil.     The  de- 
light of  his  affection  fills  and  surrounds  every  an- 
gel of  heaven,  and  a  general  delight  fills  and  sur- 
rounds every  society  of  heaven,  and  the  delight  of 
all  together  or  a  most  general  delight  fills  and  sur- 
rounds the  universal  heaven.     In  like  manner  the 
delight  of  his  lust  fills  and  surrounds,  every  spirit 
of  hell,  and  a  general  delight  every  society  of  hell, 
and  the  delight  of  all  or  a  most  general  delight  fills 
and   surrounds    the  entire   hell.     Because,   as  said 
above,  the  affections  of  heaven  and  the  lusts  of  hell 
are  diametrically  opposed  to  each  other,  it  is  clear 
that  the  delight  of  heaven  is  so  undelightful  in  hell 
that  it  cannot  be  endured,  and  on  the  other  hand, 
that  the  delight  of  hell  is  so  undelightful  in  heaven 
that  it  cannot  be  endured.     This   is  the  cause  of 
the  antipathy,  aversion,  and  separation. 

304.  Inasmuch  as  these  delights  constitute  the 
life  of  every  one  in  particular  and  of  all  in  general, 


440  THE  'DIVINE   TROYIDENCE 

they  are  not  felt  by  those  who  are  in  them,  but  their 
opposites  are  felt  when  they  approach,  especially 
when  they  are  turned  into  odors ;  for  every  delight 
corresponds  to  an  odor,  and  in  the  spiritual  world 
may  be  converted  into  an  odor  ;  and  then  the  gen- 
eral delight  in  heaven  is  sensed  as  the  odor  of  a 
garden,  with  variety  according  to  the  varieties  of 
fragrance  there  from  flowers  and  fruits,  while  the 
general  delight  in  hell  is  sensed  as  stagnant  water 
into  which  different  kinds  of  filth  have  been  thrown, 
with  variety  according  to  the  odors  from  putrid  and 
offensive  things  therein.  How  the  delight  of  each 
affection  for  good  in  heaven  and  the  delight  of  the 
lust  of  evil  in  hell  is  felt  it  has  been  granted  me 
to  know ;  but  it  would  require  too  much  space  to 
explain  it  here. 

305.  I  have  heard  many  newcomers  from  the 
world  complain  that  they  had  not  known  that  their 
life's  lot  would  be  in  accordance  with  the  affections 
of  their  love,  saying  that  in  the  world  they  had 
not  thought  about  these  affections,  still  less  about 
their  delights,  because  they  had  loved  whatever 
was  delightful  to  them,  and  had  merely  believed 
that  every  one's  lot  would  be  in  accordance  with 
their  thoughts  from  intelligence,  especially  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  thoughts  arising  from  their  piety 
and  faith.  But  it  was  replied  that  they  could  have 
known  if  they  had  wished,  that  evil  of  life  is  out  of 
harmony  with  heaven  and  displeasing  to  God,  but 
is  in  harmony  with  hell  and  pleasing  to  the  devil, 
and  on  the  other  hand,  that  good  of  life  is  in  har- 


CHAPTER   XV.,  N.  }OJ  441 

mony  with  heaven  and  pleasing  to  God,  and  out 
of  harmony  with  hell  and  displeasing  to  the  devil  ; 
consequently  that  evil  in  itself  is  a  stench,  while 
good  in  itself  is  fragrant  And  as  they  might  have 
known  this  if  they  would,  why  had  they  not  shunned 
evil  as  infernal  and  diabolical  and  why  had  they 
favored  evils  merely  because  they  were  delightful? 
And  as  they  were  now  aware  that  the  delights  of 
evil  have  so  foul  a  smell,  they  might  also  know  that 
those  who  are  full  of  such  delights  cannot  enter 
heaven.  After  this  reply  they  betook  themselves 
to  those  who  were  in  like  delights,  because  there 
and  not  elsewhere  they  could  breathe. 

306.  From  the  idea  here  given  of  heaven  and 
hell  it  can  be  seen  what  man's  mind  is ;  for,  as  has 
been  said,  man's  mind  or  spirit  is  either  a  heaven 
or  a  hell  in  the  least  form,  that  is,  its  interiors  are 
mere    affections    and    thoughts    therefrom,    distin- 
guished into  genera  and  species,  as  into  greater  and 
less  societies,  and  so  conjoined  as  to  a6l  as  one,  and 
these  the  Lord  rules  the  same  as  He  ru-les  heaven 
and  hell.    That  man  is  either  a  heaven  or  a  hell  in 
the  least  form  can  be  seen  in  the  work  on  Heaven 
and  Hell,  published   in  London   in   the  year  1758 

(n.  51-87)- 

307.  Now  in  regard  to  the  subject  proposed : 
That  the  Lord  governs  hell  by  means  of  opposites, 
and  that  the  evil  who  are  in  the  world  He  governs 
in  hell,  in  respect  to  their  interiors  but  not  in  re- 
spect to  their  exteriors.     As  to  the  first :    That  the 
Lord  governs  hell  by  means  of  opposites.     It  has 


442  THE  WINE  'PROVIDENCE 

been  shown  above  (n.  288,  289)  that  the  angels  of 
heaven  are  not  in  love  and  wisdom,  or  in  affection 
for  good  and  the  consequent  thought  of  truth  from 
themselves,  but  from  the  Lord ;  also  that  good  and 
truth  flow  out  of  heaven  into  hell,  and  that  good 
is  there  turned  into  evil,  and  truth  into  falsity,  be- 
cause the  interiors  of  the  minds  of  those  in  heaven 
and  in  hell  are  turned  in  opposite  directions.  Since, 
then,  all  things  in  hell  are  opposite  to  all  things 
in  heaven  it  follows  that  the  Lord  governs  hell  by 
means  of  opposites. 

Secondly  :  The  evil  who  are  in  the  world  the 
Lord  governs  in  hell.  This  is  true  because  man 
as  to  his  spirit  is  in  the  spiritual  world  and  in  some 
society  there,  in  an  infernal  society  if  he  is  evil,  and 
in  a  heavenly  society  if  he  is  good  ;  for  man's  mind, 
which  in  itself  is  spiritual,  must  needs  be  among 
the  spiritual,  and  he  comes  among  such  after  death. 
That  this  is  true  has  also  been  said  and  shown  above. 
But  a  man  is  not  there  in  the  same  way  as  a  spirit 
is  who  has  been  assigned  to  the  society,  for  a  man 
is  constantly  in  a  state  to  be  reformed,  and  if  he  is 
evil  he  is  transferred  by  the  Lord  from  one  society 
of  hell  to  another  in  accordance  with  his  life  and 
its  changes.  But  if  he  suffers  himself  to  be  re- 
formed he  is  led  out  of  hell,  and  is  led  up  into 
heaven,  and  there  he  is  transferred  from  one  so- 
ciety to  another,  and  this  even  until  death.  But 
after  death  he  is  no  longer  borne  from  one  society 
to  another  there,  because  he  is  no  longer  in  any 
state  to  be  reformed,  but  remains  in  the  state  in 


CHAPTER   XV.,  N.  )0-J  443 

which  he  is  in  accordance  with  his  life.  When, 
therefore,  a  man  dies  he  is  assigned  to  his  own 
place. 

Thirdly  :  The  Lord  in  this  way  governs  the  evil 
in  the  world  in  respe£l  to  their  interiors,  but  other- 
wise in  respeEl  to  their  exteriors.  The  Lord  gov- 
erns the  interiors  of  man's  mind,  as  has  now  been 
told  ;  but  the  exteriors  He  governs  in  the  world  of 
spirits,  which  is  intermediate  between  heaven  and 
hell.  The  reason  of  this  is  that  in  externals  man 
is  for  the  most  part  different  from  what  he  is  in  in- 
ternals, for  in  externals  he  can  feign  himself  an  an- 
gel of  light  while  in  internals  he  is  a  spirit  of  dark- 
ness ;  therefore  his  external  is  governed  in  one  way 
and  his  internal  in  another.  As. 'long  as  he  is  in 
the  world  his  external  is  governed  in  the  world  of 
spirits,  but  his  internal  is  governed  in  heaven  or  in 
hell ;  therefore  when  he  dies  he  first  enters  the 
world  of  spirits,  and  there  comes  into  his  external, 
which  is  there  put  off;  and  when  freed  from  this 
he  is  borne  into  his  own  place  to  which  he  has 
been  assigned.  What  the  world  of  spirits  is  and 
the  nature  of  it  may  be  seen  in  the  work  on  Heaven 
and  Hell,  published  at  London  in  the  year  1758  (n. 
421-535)- 


XVI. 


THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  APPROPRIATES  NEITHER  EVIL  NOR 
GOOD  TO  ANY  ONE;  BUT  MAN'S  OWN  PRUDENCE  AP- 
PROPRIATES BOTH. 


308. 

NEARLY  every  one  believes  that  man  thinks 
and  wills  from  himself,  and  consequently 
speaks  and  acts  from  himself.  And  who 
from  himself  can  believe  otherwise,  when  the  ap- 
pearance that  it  is  so  is  so  strong  that  it  does 
not  differ  in  the  least  from  an  actual  thinking,  will- 
ing, speaking,  and  acting  from  one' s  self  ?  Never- 
theless, that  is  impossible.  In  Angelic  Wisdom 
concerning  the  Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wis- 
dom it  has  been  shown  that  there  is  only  one  life, 
and  that  men  are  recipients  of  life  ;  also  that  man's 
will  is  the  receptacle  of  love,  and  his  understanding 
the  receptacle  of  wisdom,  and  these  two  are  that 
only  life.  It  has  also  been  shown  there  that  it  is 
from  creation,  and  therefore  from  an  unceasing 
Divine  providence,  that  in  man  this  life  should 
manifest  itself  in  an  appearance  of  belonging  to  him, 
consequently  as  if  it  were  his  own  life  ;  this,  how- 
ever, being  an  appearance,  to  the  end  that  man  may 
be  a  receptacle.  It  has  also  been  shown  above  (n. 
288-294)  that  man  never  thinks  from  himself,  but 
always  from  others,  nor  these  others  from  them- 


CHAPTER   XVI.,  N.  }o8  445 

selves,  but  all  from  the  Lord,  and  that  this  is  true 
both  of  the  evil  man  and  of  the  good  ;  furthermore, 
that  this  is  recognized  in  the  Christian  world,  espe- 
cially by  those  who  not  only  say  but  believe  that 
all  good  and  truth  are  from  the  Lord,  also  all  wis- 
dom, thus  all  faith  and  charity,  while  all  evil  and 
falsity  are  from  the  devil,  or  from  hell. 

From  all  this  no  other  conclusion  can  follow 
than  that  every  thing  that  man  thinks  and  wills  flows 
in.  And  since  all  speech  flows  from  thought  as  an 
effect  from  its  cause,  and  all  action  flows  from  will 
in  like  manner,  it  follows  that  everything  also  that 
a  man  says  and  does  flows  in,  although  derivatively 
or  mediately.  That  every  thing  that  a  man  sees, 
hears,  smells,  tastes,  and  feels,  flows  in  cannot  be 
denied ;  why  not,  then,  every  thing  that  a  man 
thinks  and  wills?  Can  there  be  any  other  differ- 
ence than  that  what  flows  into  the  organs  of  the 
external  senses,  or  those  of  the  body,  are  such 
things  as  are  in  the  natural  world,  while  what  flows 
into  the  organic  substances  of  the  internal  senses 
or  those  of  the  mind  are  such  things  as  are  in  the 
spiritual  world  ?  Consequently  as  the  organs  of  the 
external  senses  or  those  of  the  body  are  recepta- 
cles of  natural  objects,  so  the  organic  substances 
of  the  internal  senses  or  of  the  mind  are  recepta- 
cles of  spiritual  objects.  Such  being  the  state  of 
man,  what  has  he  that  is  his  own?  His  being  this 
or  that  kind  of  receptacle  is  not  what  is  his  own, 
since  this  own  is  simply  what  he  is  in  respect  to 
receptiorJiand  is  not  his  life's  own;  and  by  one's 


446  THE  THYME  TROYIDENCE 

own  nothing  else  is  meant  by  any  one  except  that 
one  lives  from  himself,  and  therefore  thinks  and 
wills  from  himself.  But  that  such  an  own  is  not  in 
man,  and  cannot  possibly  exist  in  any  man,  follows 
from  what  has  been  said  above. 

309.  But  I  will  relate  what  I  have  heard  from 
some  in  the  spiritual  world.  They  were  among 
those  who  believed  their  own  prudence  to  be  ev- 
erything, and  the  Divine  providence  to  be  nothing. 
I  said  that  man  has  nothing  that  is  his  own  unless 
you  choose  to  say  that  his  being  this  or  that  kind 
of  a  subject,  or  his  being  this  or  that  kind  of  an 
organ,  or  this  or  that  kind  of  a  form,  is  his  own. 
But  this  is  not  the  own  that  is  meant,  for  this  is 
merely  what  he  is.  In  fac~t,  no  man,  according  to 
the  common  understanding  of  his  own  has  any  thing 
his  own.  Those  who  had  ascribed  all  things  to 
their  own  prudence,  and  who  might  be  called  own- 
ers in  their  very  image,  so  blazed  up  at  this  that 
flame  appeared  from  their  nostrils,  saying,  "You 
are  uttering  contradictions  and  insanities ;  would 
not  a  man  thus  be  nothing  and  emptiness,  or  an 
idea  or  fantasy,  or  a  graven  image  or  statue  ?" 

But  I  could  only  answer  that  it  is  absurd  and 
insane  to  believe  that  man  is  life  from  himself,  and 
that  wisdom  and  prudence  do  not  flow  in  from 
God,  but  are  in  man,  as  well  as  the  good  that  be- 
longs to  chanty  and  the  truth  that  belongs  to 
faith.  To  attribute  these  to  oneself  is  called  by  every 
wise  man  an  insanity,  consequently  it  is  absurd ; 
moreover,  those  who  do  this  are  like  thos^who  oc- 


CHAPTER  XVI.,  N.  JOQ  447 

cupy  the  house  and  property  of  another,  and  as  soon 
as  they  are  in  possession  persuade  themselves  that 
they  are  the  owners ;  or  they  are  like  overseers 
and  stewards  who  believe  all  things  belonging  to 
their  lord  to  be  theirs;  or  like  business  servants  to 
whom  their  lord  has  given  talents  and  pounds  to 
trade  with,  and  who  render  no  account  but  keep 
them  as  their  own,  and  thus  a6l  as  thieves. 

Of  all  these  it  can  be  said  that  they  are  insane, 
and  even  that  they  are  nothings  and  vanities,  and 
are  merely  creatures  of  thought,  since  they  do  not 
have  in  them  from  the  Lord  that  good  which  is  the 
very  being  of  life,  thus  neither  the  truth.  There- 
fore such  are  called  "dead,"  and  "nothings  and 
vanities  "  {Isaiah  xl.  17,  23),  and  elsewhere,  "form- 
ers of  an  image,"  and  "graven  images,"  and  "stat- 
ues." But  of  all  this  more  in  what  follows,  which 
will  be  considered  in  this  order : 

(i.)  What  one's  own  pritdence  is,  and  what 
prudence  not  ones  own  is. 

(ii.)  Man  from  his  own  prudence  persuades 
himself  and  corroborates  in  himself 
that  all  good  and  truth  are  from  him- 
self and  in  himself;  likewise  all  evil 
and  falsity. 

(iii.)  Everything  that  a  man  has  adopted  by 
persuasion  and  confirmation  remains 
in  him  as  his  own. 

(iv.)  If  man  believed,  as  is  the  truth,  that  all 
good  and  truth  are  from  the  Lord,  and 
all  evil  and  falsity  from  hell,  he  wotdd 
not  appropriategoodto  himself  and  make 
it  meritorious,  nor  appropriate  evil  to 
himself  and  make  himself  guilty  of  it. 


448  THE  'DIVINE  TROWDENCE 

310.  (i.)  What  one's  own  prudence  is,  and 
what  prudence  not  one's  own  is. — Those  are  in 
their  own  prudence  who  corroborate  appearances  in 
themselves  and  make  them  truths,  especially  the 
appearance  that  one's  own  prudence  is  everything, 
and  the  Divine  providence  nothing  unless  some: 
thing  universal ;  and  this  is  impossible  without  the 
particulars  that  constitute  it,  as  has  been  shown 
above.  Such  are  in  fallacies  also,  for  every  appear- 
ance confirmed  as  a  truth  is  a  fallacy ;  and  as  far 
as  they  confirm  themselves  by  fallacies  they  be- 
come naturalists,  and  to  that  extent  they  believe 
nothing  but  what  they  are  able  also  to  perceive  by 
some  bodily  sense,  especially  by  the  sense  of  sight, 
because  that  sense  especially  acls  as  one  with  thought. 
Such  at  last  become  sensual.  When  such  confirm 
themselves  in  favor  of  nature  against  God  they  close 
up  the  interiors  of  their  minds,  interposing  a  veil, 
as  it  were,  and  afterwards  they  think  below  the 
veil,  but  not  of  any  thing  that  is  above  it.  The  an- 
cients called  such  sensual  men  serpents  of  the  tree 
of  knowledge ;  and  in  the  spiritual  world  it  is  said 
of  them  that  as  they  confirm  themselves  they  close 
up  the  interiors  of  their  minds,  at  length  even  to 
the  nose;  for  the  " nose "  signifies  perception  of 
truth,  and  this  means  that  they  have  no  percep- 
tion. What  such  are  shall  now  be  told. 

They  are  above  others  shrewd  and  cunning,  and 
ingenious  reasoners ;  and  they  call  shrewdness  and 
cunning  intelligence  and  wisdom,  nor  do  they  know 
otherwise.  Those  not  like  themselves  they  regard 


CHAPTER  XVI.,  N.  }1O  449 

as  simple  and  stupid,  especially  those  who  worship 
God  and  acknowledge  the  Divine  providence.  In 
respect  to  the  interior  principles  of  their  minds, 
about  which  they  have  little  knowledge,  they  are 
like  those  called  Machiavelians,  who  regard  mur- 
der, adultery,  theft,  and  false  witness,  viewed  in 
themselves,  as  of  no  account ;  and  if  they  reason 
against  them  it  is  merely  from  prudence,  lest  they 
should  appear  such  themselves. 

Of  man's  life  in  the  world  they  think  only  that 
it  is  like  the  life  of  a  beast ;  and  of  man's  life  after 
death  that  it  is  like  a  living  vapor  that  after  rising 
out  of  the  corpse  or  the  grave  settles  back  again 
and  thus  dies.  From  this  madness  arises  the  idea 
that  spirits  and  angels  are  made  of  air,  and  with 
such  as  have  been  trained  to  believe  in  eternal  life, 
that  the  souls  of  men  are  of  the  same  nature,  and 
cannot  see,  hear,  or  speak,  and  therefore  are  blind, 
deaf,  and  dumb,  and  can  merely  think  in  some  part 
of  their  air.  They  say,  How  can  the  .soul  be  any 
thing  else  ?  Did  not  the  external  senses  die  with 
the  body ;  and  how  can  the  soul  again  resume  them 
until  it  is  reunited  with  the  body?  And  this  belief 
has  been  maintained  because  they  have  been  able 
to  comprehend  the  state  of  the  soul  after  death  only 
in  this  sensual  way  and  not  spiritually ;  and  except 
for  this  the  belief  in  an  eternal  life  would  have  per- 
ished. Such  have  especially  established  in  them- 
selves the  love  of  self,  calling  it  the  fire  of  life  and 
the  incentive  to  the  various  uses  in  the  kingdom. 
And  being  such  they  are  idols  of  self;  and  as  their 


450  THE  TII^INE  'PROVIDENCE 

m 

thoughts  are  fallacies  and  from  fallacies  they  are 
images  of  falsity ;  and  as  they  favor  the  delights 
of  lusts  they  are  satans  and  devils.  Those  who  con- 
firm in  themselves  the  lusts  of  evil  are  called  satans, 
and  those  who  live  those  lusts  are  called  devils. 

What  the  most  cunning  sensual  men  are  it  has 
been  granted  me  to  know.  Their  hell  is  deep  down 
behind,  and  they  wish  to  be  invisible  ;  therefore  they 
appear  there  flying  about  like  speclres,  which  are 
their  fantasies.  They  are  called  genii.  Some  of 
them  were  once  let  out  of  that  hell  that  I  might 
know  their  character.  They  immediately  applied 
themselves  to  my  neck,  beneath  the  occiput,  and 
thus  entered  into  my  affections,  not  wishing  to  enter 
my  thoughts — these  they  skilfully  avoided  ;  and 
they  varied  my  affections  one  after  another  for  the 
purpose  of  bending  them  insensibly  into  their  op- 
posites,  which  are  lusts  of  evil  ;  and  as  they  did  not 
touch  my  thoughts  they  would  have  bent  and  in- 
verted the  affections  without  my  knowledge  if  the 
Lord  had  not  prevented  it. 

Such  do  those  become  who  in  the  world  do  not 
believe  that  there  is  any  such  thing  as  Divine  pro- 
vidence, and  who  seek  out  in  others  nothing  but 
their  cupidities  and  desires,  thus  leading  them  on 
until  they  rule  over  them.  And  as  they  do  this  so 
secretly  and  cunningly  that  the  other  does  not  know 
it,  and  as  after  death  they  become  like  themselves, 
as  soon  as  they  enter  the  spiritual  world  they  are 
cast  down  into  that  hell.  Such  when  seen  in  the 
light  of  heaven  appear  without  noses,  and  what 


CHAPTER   XVI. ,  N.  Jll  4M 

is  wonderful,  although  they  are  so  crafty  they  are 
nevertheless  more  sensual  than  others.  As  the  an- 
cients called  a  sensual  man  a  serpent,  and  as  such 
a  man  is  shrewd,  crafty,  and  an  ingenious  reasoner 
above  others,  therefore  it  is  said  that 

"  The  serpent  was  made  more  crafty  than  any  wild  beast 
of  the  field"  (Gen.  iii.  i)  ; 

and  the  Lord  says  : 

"Be  ye   therefore  prudent  as  serpents  and   simple   as 
doves"  (Matt.  x.  16)  ; 

and  also  the  dragon,  which  is  likewise  called  "the 
old  serpent,"  "the  devil,"  and  "satan,"  is  described 
as 

Having  seven  heads  and  ten  horns,  and  seven  crowns 
upon  his  heads  (Apoc.  xii.  3,  9) ; 

"seven  heads "  signifying  craftiness  ;  "  the  ten  horns" 
the  power  of  persuading  by  fallacies  ;  and  "  the  seven 
crowns  "  the  holy  things  of  the  Word  and  of  the 
church  profaned. 

3ir.  This  description  of  one's  own  prudence 
and  of  those  who  are  in  it  makes  clear  what  prud- 
ence that  is  not  one's  own  is,  and  the  character  of 
those  who  are  in  it,  namely,  that  prudence  not  one's 
own  is  the  prudence  of  those  who  do  not  persuade 
themselves  that  intelligence  and  wisdom  are  from 
man  ;  for  they  say,  "  How  can  one  be  wise  from 
himself,  or  how  can  one  do  good  from  himself?" 
And  when  they  say  this  they  see  in  themselves  that 
it  is  so,  for  they  think  interiorly  ;  they  also  believe 


452  THE 

that  others  think  in  the  same  way,  especially  the 
learned,  not  knowing  that  any  one  can  think  in  a 
purely  exterior  way. 

Such  are  not  in  fallacies  through  certain  con- 
firmations of  appearances,  and  therefore  they  know 
and  perceive  that  murder,  adultery,  theft,  and  false 
witness  are  sins,  and  consequently  shun  them.  They 
know  also  that  shrewdness  is  not  wisdom,  and  that 
cunning  is  not  intelligence.  When  they  listen  to 
ingenious  reasonings  from  fallacies  they  wonder  and 
inwardly  smile.  This  is  because  with  them  there  is 
no  veil  between  interiors  and  exteriors,  or  between 
the  spiritual  and  the  natural  things  of  the  mind,  as 
there  is  with  the  sensual ;  therefore  they  receive  in- 
flux from  heaven,  by  which  they  interiorly  see  these 
things. 

Such  speak  more  simply  and  sincerely  than  oth- 
ers, and  place  wisdom  in  the  life,  and  not  in  talking. 
They  are  comparatively  like  lambs  and  sheep,  while 
those  who  are  in  their  own  prudence  are  like  wolves 
and  foxes.  They  are  like  those  who  live  in  a  house 
and  see  heaven  through  the  windows ;  while  those 
who  are  in  their  own  prudence  are  like  those  who 
live  in  the  basement  of  a  house,  and  through  their 
windows  see  only  what  is  below  the  level  of  the 
ground.  They  are  like  those  who  stand  on  a 
mountain,  and  they  see  those  who  are  in  their  own 
prudence  like  persons  wandering  in  the  valleys  and 
forests. 

From  all  this  it  can  be  seen  that  the  prudence 
that  is  not  one's  own  is  prudence  from  the  Lord, 


CHAPTER   XVL,  N.J12  *453 

having  the  same  appearance  in  externals  as  one's 
own  prudence,  but  wholly  unlike  it  in  internals. 
In  the  spiritual  world  prudence  not  one's  own  ap- 
pears in  internals  like  a  man,  while  one's  own  prud- 
ence appears  like  an  effigy,  seemingly  alive  merely 
from  this,  that  those  who  are  in  that  prudence  have 
nevertheless  rationality  and  liberty,  or  a  capacity 
to  understand  and  will,  and  consequently  to  speak 
and  acl,  and  by  means  of  these  capacities  they  can 
feign  themselves  men  also.  They  are  such  effigies 
because  evils  and  falsities  have  no  life,  for  goods 
and  truths  alone  live ;  and  knowing  this  from  their 
rationality  (for  if  they  did  not  know  it  they  would 
not  counterfeit  goods  and  truths)  they  endow  their 
effigies  with  human  vitality. 

Who  cannot  know  that  a  man  is  such  as  he  is 
interiorly?  Consequently,  is  not  he  a  man  who  is 
interiorly  what  he  wishes  to  seem  to  be  outwardly  ? 
And  is  not  he  an  effigy  who  is  a  man  only  out- 
wardly, and  not  interiorly?  Think  as  you  talk,  in 
favor  of  God  and  religion,  and  justice  and  sincer- 
ity, and  you  will  be  a  man,  and  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence will  then  be  your  prudence,  and  you  will 
see  in  others  that  one's  own  prudence  is  insanity. 

312.  (ii.)  Man  from  his  own  prudence  per- 
suades himself  and  corroborates  in  himself  that  all 
good  and  truth  are  from  himself  and  in  himself; 
likewise  all  evil  and  falsity. — Let  an  argument  be 
drawn  from  the  analogy  between  natural  good  and 
truth  and  spiritual  good  and  truth.  It  is  asked 


454  THE  DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

what  the  true  and  the  good  are  in  the  sight  of  the 
eye?  Is  not  the  true  there  that  which  is  called 
beautiful,  and  good  there  that  which  is  called  de- 
lightful ?  For  delight  is  felt  in  seeing  what  is  beau- 
tiful. What  are  the  true  and  the  good  in  the  hear- 
ing? Is  not-the  true  there  that  which  is  called  har- 
monious, and  the  good  that  which  is  called  pleas- 
ing? for  pleasure  is  felt  in  hearing  harmonious 
sounds.  So  of  the  other  senses.  This  makes  clear 
what  natural  truth  and  good  are.  Consider  now 
what  spiritual  truth  and  good  are.  Is  spiritual  truth 
any  thing  except  the  beautiful  and  harmonious  in 
spiritual  things  and  objects?  And  is  spiritual  good 
any  thing  except  the  delight  and  pleasure  that  are 
derived  from  what  is  perceived  of  their  beauty  or 
harmony  ? 

And  now  observe  whether  anything  can  be  said 
of  the  one  different  from  what  may  be  said  of  the 
other,  that  is,  of  the  spiritual  different  from  what 
may  be  said  of  the  natural.  Of  the  natural  it  is 
said  that  beauty  and  delight  flow  from  objecls  into 
the  eye,  and  that  what  is  harmonious  and  pleasing 
flows  from  musical  instruments  into  the  ear.  What 
is  there  different  in  the  organic  substances  of  the 
mind?  Of  these  it  is  said  that  their  contents  reside 
in  them,  of  natural  organs  that  they  flow  in.  But 
if  it  is  asked  why  they  are  said  to  flow  in  there  can 
be  no  other  answer  than  that  it  is  because  there  is 
a  manifest  distance  between  them.  But  why  in  the 
other  case  are  they  said  to  be  contained  in  them? 
There  can  be  no  other  answer  than  that  it  is  be- 


CHAPTER   XVI.,  N.  }  1 2  455 

cause  there  is  no  hianifest  distance  between  them. 
Consequently  it  is  the  appearance  of  distance  that 
causes  one  kind  of  belief  about  what  man  thinks  and 
perceives  and  another  about  what  he  sees  and  hears. 
But  this  is  set  aside  as  soon  as  it  is  known  that  the 
spiritual  is  not  in  distance  as  the  natural  is.  Think 
of  the  sun  and  the  moon,  or  of  Rome  and  Constan- 
tinople— in  the  thought  is  there  any  distance  be- 
tween them,  provided  this  thought  is  not  joined  with 
experience  acquired  through  sight  and  hearing? 
Why  then  persuade  yourself  that  because  there  is 
no  manifest  distance  in  the  thought,  good  and  truth 
and  also  evil  and  falsity  reside  within  and  do  not 
flow  in? 

To  this  I  will  add  this  experience,  -which  is 
common  in  the  spiritual  world.  One  spirit  can  in- 
fuse his  thoughts  and  affections  into  another  spirit, 
and  the  latter  be  unaware  that  it  is  not  a  part  of  his 
own  thought  and  affection.  This  is  there  called 
thinking  from  another  and  thinking  in  another.  I 
have  seen  this  a  thousand  times,  and  I  have  myself 
done  it  a  hundred  times,  even  when  there  was  an 
appearance  of  considerable  distance.  But  as  soon 
as  they  knew  that  another  had  introduced  these 
thoughts  and  affections  they  were  indignant  and 
turned  themselves  away,  acknowledging,  however, 
that  in  the  internal  sight  or  the  thought  there  is 
no  appearance  of  distance,  and  that  there  is  a  be- 
lief in  influx  only  when  this  is  made  manifest,  as  it 
is  to  the  external  sight  or  the  eye. 

To   this   I   will   add  my  own  daily  experience. 


456  THE  <DIISINE  'PROVIDENCE 

Evil  spirits  have  often  infused  into  my  thoughts 
evils  and  falsities  which  seemed  to  me  to  be  in  me 
and  from  me,  that  is,  as  if  I  myself  thought  them  ; 
but  as  I  knew  them  to  be  evils  and  falsities  I  tried 
to  discover  who  had  infused  them,  and  they  who 
did  so  were  detected  and  driven  away.  These  had 
been  at  a  very  great  distance  from  me.  All  this 
makes  clear  that  all  evil  with  its  falsity  flows  in  from 
hell,  and  that  all  good  with  its  truth  flows  in  from 
the  Lord,  and  that  they  both  seem  to  be  in  man. 

313.  The  character  of  those  who  are  in  their 
own  prudence  and  of  those  who  are  in  prudence  not 
their  own,  and  who  are  thus  in  the  Divine  provid- 
ence, is  described  in  tHe  Word  by  "  Adam  and  his 
wife  Eve"  in  "the  garden  of  Eden,"  where  there 
were  two  trees,  one  of  life  and  the  other  of  the 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  and  by  their  eating  of 
the  latter  tree.  That  by  "  Adam  and  his  wife  Eve," 
in  the  internal  or  spiritual  sense,  the  Most  Ancient 
Church  of  the  Lord  on  this  earth,  which  was  more 
noble  and  heavenly  than  the  succeeding  churches, 
is  meant  and  depicted,  can  be  seen  above  (n.  241)  ; 
the  signification  of  the  other  things  is  as  follows. 

"The  garden  of  Eden"  signifies  the  wisdom  of 
the  men  of  that  church  ;  "the  tree  of  life  "  the  Lord 
in  respect  to  the  Divine  providence  ;  and  "  the  tree 
of  knowledge"  man  in  respect  to  his  own  prudence  ; 
the  "serpent"  signifies  the  sensual  of  man  and  what 
is  his  own  (proprium],  which  in  itself  is  the  love  of 
self  and  the  pride  of  self-intelligence,  thus  the  devil 
and  satan ;  "eating  from  the  tree  of  knowledge" 


CHAPTER  XVI.,  N.  }l}  457 

signifies  the  appropriation  of  good  and  truth,  as 
being  from  man  and  consequently  man's,  and  not 
from  the  Lord  and  consequently  the  Lord's.  And 
as  good  and  truth  are  the  Divine  things  themselves 
with  man  (for  by  good  everything  of  love  is  meant 
and  by  truth  everything  of  wisdom),  so  when  man 
claims  these  to  himself  as  his  he  cannot  but  believe 
that  he  is  as  God ;  therefore  the  serpent  said, 

"  In  the  day  ye  eat  thereof  your  eyes  shall  be  opened, 
and  ye  shall  be  as  God,  knowing  good  and  evil" 
(Gen.  iii.  5). 

Thus  do  those  do  in  hell  who  are  in  the  love  of  self 
and  in  the  conceit  of  their  own  intelligence  there- 
from. 

The  condemnation  of  the  serpent  signifies  the 
condemnation  of  one's  own  love  and  one's  own  in- 
telligence ;  the  condemnation  of  Eve  signifies  the 
condemnation  of  the  voluntary  self  (proprium),  and 
Adam's  condemnation  signifies  the  condemnation 
of  the  intellectual  self  (proprium);  "the  thorn  and 
the  thistle"  that  the  earth  would  bring  forth  to  him 
signify  pure  falsity  and  evil  ;  the  expulsion  from  the 
garden  signifies  the  deprivation  of  wisdom  ;  "  the 
guarding  of  the  way  to  the  tree  of  life"  the  Lord's 
care  lest  the  holy  things  of  the  Word  and  the  church 
be  violated ;  "  the  fig  leaves  with  which  they  cov- 
ered their  nakedness"  signify  moral  truths  by  which 
the  things  of  their  love  and  pride  were  veiled ;  and 
"the  coats  of  skin"  in  which  they  were  afterwards 
clothed  signify  the  appearances  of  truth,  which  were 


458  THE   fDIYINE   TROVIDENCE 

all  that  they  had.  Such  is  the  spiritual  meaning 
of  these  things.  But  let  him  who  wishes  remain 
in  the  sense  of  the  letter  ;  only  let  him  know  that 
in  heaven  this  is  the  meaning. 

3x4..  The  character  of  those  who  are  infatu- 
ated by  their  own  intelligence  can  be  seen  from  their 
fancies  in  matters  of  interior  judgment  ;  for  exam- 
ple, respecting  influx,  thought,  and  life.  Respect- 
ing influx  their  thought  is  inverted,  as  that  the 
sight  of  the  eye  flows  into  the  internal  sight  of  the 
mind,  which  is  the  understanding  ;  and  the  hearing 
of  the  ear  flows  into  the  internal  .hearing,  which  also 
is  the  understanding  ;  and  they  fail  to  perceive  that 
the  understanding  from  the  will  flows  into  the  eye 
and  the  ear,  and  not  only  makes  those  senses  but 
also  uses  them  as  its  instruments  in  the  natural 
world.  But  as  this  is  not  in  accordance  with  the 
appearance  they  fail  to  perceive  what  is  meant 
when  it  is  simply  said  that  the  natural  does  not 
flow  into  the  spiritual  but  that  the  spiritual  flows 
into  the  natural,  still  thinking,  "  What  is  the  spirit- 
ual but  a  purer  natural?"  also,  "  Is  it  not  evident 
that  when  the  eye  sees  any  thing  beautiful,  or  the 
ear  hears  any  thing  harmonious,  the  mind,  which 
is  the  understanding  and  the  will,  is  delighted?" 
And  they  are  wholly  unaware  that  the  eye  does  not 
see  from  itself,  nor  the  tongue  taste  from  itself,  nor 
the  nose  smell  from  itself,  nor  the  skin  feel  from 
itself  ;  but  that  it  is  man' s  mind  or  spirit  that  there 
perceives  things  by  the  sense,  and  is  affected  by  the 
sense  in  accordance  with  its  nature  ;  and  still  these 


CHAPTER   XVI.,  N.  3/4  459 

things  are  not  felt  by  man's  mind  or  spirit  from 
itself,  but  from  the  Lord ;  and  to  think  otherwise 
is  to  think  from  appearances,  and  if  these  are  con- 
firmed, from  fallacies. 

Of  Thought  they  say  that  it  is  something  modi- 
fied in  the  air,  varied  according  to  its  objecls  and 
enlarged  according  to  culture,  thus  that  the  ideas 
of  the  thoughts  are  images  like  meteors  appearing 
in  the  air,  while  the  memory  is  the  tablet  on  which 
they  have  been  impressed ;  and  they  are  wholly 
unaware  that  thoughts  are  as  much  in  substances 
purely  organic  as  the  sight  and  the  hearing  are  in 
theirs.  Only  let  them  examine  the  brain  and  they 
will  see  that  it  is  full  of  such  substances ;  injure 
them  and  you  become  delirious,  destroy  them  and 
you  will  die.  But  what  thought  is  and  what  mem- 
ory is  can  be  seen  above  (near  the  end  of  n.  279). 

Of  Life  they  know  nothing  else  than  that  it  is 
a  certain  activity  of  nature  that  makes  itself  felt  in 
various  ways,  as  a  living  body  moves  itself  organ- 
ically. If  it  is  asserted  that  if  this  be  so  nature  is 
alive,  they  deny  it,  and  say  that  nature  imparts  life. 
If  it  is  asked,  "  Then  is  not  life  dissipated  when  the 
body  dies?"  they  answer  that  life  remains  in  that 
body  of  air  that  is  called  the  soul.  If  it  is  asked, 
''What  is  God  then?  is  He  not  Life  itself?"  they 
are  silent,  and  are  unwilling  to  say  what  they  think. 
If  it  is  asked,  "Would  you  admit  that  Divine  love 
and  Divine  wisdom  are  life  itself?"  they  answer, 
"  What  are  love  and  wisdom?"  For  in  their  fallacies 
they  fail  to  see  what  these  are  or  what  God  is.  These 


460  77/£  DIVINE   'PROVIDENCE 

things  are  adduced  to  make  clear  how  man  is  in- 
fatuated by  his  own  prudence,  for  the  reason  that 
he  draws  all  conclusions  from  appearances  and  con- 
sequent fallacies. 

316.  One's  own  prudence  persuades  and  cor- 
roborates that  every  good  and   truth  is  from  man 
and  in  man,  because  man's  own  prudence  is  his  in- 
tellectual self  (proprium}  flowing  in  from  the  love  of 
self  which  is  his  voluntary  self  (proprium} ;  and  self 
cannot  do  otherwise  than  make  all  things  its  own, 
for  it  cannot  be  raised  above  that.      All  who  are  led 
by  the  Lord's  Divine  providence  are  raised  above 
the  self,  and  they  then  see  that  all  good  and  truth 
are  from  the  Lord ;  they  even  see  that  what  is  in 
man  from  the  Lord  is  ever  the  Lord's  and  never 
man's.     He  who  believes  otherwise  is  like  one  who 
has  his  master's  goods  under  his  care,  and  claims 
them  for  himself  or  appropriates  them  as  his — he 
is  not  a  steward,  but  a  thief.     And  as  man's  self 
(proprium}  is  nothing  but  evil,  he  also  immerses  them 
in  his  evil,  whereby  they  are  destroyed  like  pearls 
cast  into  dung  or  into  acid. 

317.  (iii.)    Every  thing  that  a  man  has  adopted 
by  persuasion  and  confirmation  remains  in  him  as 
his  own. — Many  believe  that  no  truth  can  be  seen 
by  man  except  when  proved  ;  but  this  is  a  falsity. 
In  the  civil  and  economical  affairs  of  a   kingdom 
or  republic  what   is  useful  and   good   can  be  seen 
only  by  a  knowledge  of  many  statutes  and  ordi- 
nances there  ;  or  in  judicial  matters  only  by  a  know- 


CHAPTER  XVI. ,  N.  }l8  461 

ledge  of  the  laws  ;  or  in  the  things  of  nature,  like 
physics,  chemistry,  anatomy,  mechanics,  and  so  on, 
only  when  man  has  been  well  instructed  in  the 
sciences.  But  in  things  purely  rational,  moral,  and 
spiritual,  truths  are  seen  from  the  light  of  truth  it- 
self, provided  man  has  from  a  right  education  be- 
come somewhat  rational,  moral,  and  spiritual.  This 
is  because  every  man,  in  respecT:  to  his  spirit,  which 
is  that  which  thinks,  is  in  the  spiritual  world,  and 
is  one  among  those  who  are  there ;  and  conse- 
quently is  in  spiritual  light,  which  enlightens  the 
interiors  of  his  understanding,  and  as  it  were  dic- 
tates. For  spiritual  light  in  its  essence  is  the  Di- 
vine truth  of  the  Lord's  Divine  wisdom.  From 
this  it  is  that  man  can  think  analytically,  can  form 
conclusions  about  what  is  just  and  right  in  judicial 
affairs,  can  see  what  is  honorable  in  moral  life  and 
good  in  spiritual  life,  and  many  other  truths,  which 
are  obscured  only  by  confirmed  falsities.  These  are 
seen  by  man  comparatively  almost  as  he  sees  an- 
other's disposition  from  his  face,  and  perceives  his 
affections  from  the  tone  of  his  voice,  with  no  other 
knowledge  than  what  is  inherent  in  every  one.  Why 
should  not  man  see  in  some  measure  from  influx  the 
interiors  of  his  life,  which  are  spiritual  and  moral, 
when  there  is  no  animal  that  does  not  know  from 
influx  its  own  necessities,  which  are  natural?  A 
bird  knows  how  to  build  its  nest,  lay  its  eggs,  hatch 
its  young,  and  distinguish  its  food,  besides  other 
wonderful  things  which  are  called  instincls. 

318.    But  how  man's  state  is  changed  by  con- 


462  THE  THYME  TROWDENCE 

firmations  and  consequent  persuasions  shall  now 
be  told,  and  in  the  following  order:  (i.)  There  is 
nothing  that  cannot  be  confirmed  ;  and  falsity  is 
confirmed  more  readily  than  the  truth'.  (2.)  When 
falsity  has  been  confirmed  the  truth  is  not  seen ; 
but  from  confirmed  truth  falsity  is  seen.  (3.)  An 
ability  to  confirm  whatever  one  pleases  is  not  in- 
telligence, but  only  ingenuity,  which  may  exist  even 
in  the  worst  of  men.  (4.)  There  is  confirmation 
that  is  intellectual  and  not  at  the  same  time  vol- 
untary ;  but  all  voluntary  confirmation  is  also  intel- 
lectual. (5.)  The  confirmation  of  evil  that  is  both 
voluntary  and  intellectual  causes  man  to  believe  that 
his  own  prudence  is  everything  and  the  Divine 
providence  nothing ;  but  this  is  not  true  of  intellect- 
ual confirmation  alone.  (6.)  Every  thing  confirmed 
by  both  the  will  and  the  understanding  remains  to 
eternity ;  but  not  what  has  been  confirmed  by  the 
understanding  only. 

As  regards  the  first :  There  is  nothing  that  can- 
not be  confirmed,  and  falsity  is  confirmed  more 
readily  than  the  truth.  What  is  there  that  cannot 
be  confirmed,  when  it  is  confirmed  by  atheists  that 
God  is  not  the  Creator  of  the  universe,  but  that 
nature  is  the  creator  of  itself ;  that  religion  is  merely 
a  restraint,  and  for  the  simple  and  the  common  peo- 
ple ;  that  man  is  like  a  beast,  and  dies  like  one ; 
also  when  it  is  confirmed  that  adulteries  are  allow- 
able, likewise  clandestine  thefts,  frauds,  and  deceit- 
ful contrivances ;  that  cunning  is  intelligence  and 
shrewdness  is  wisdom  ?  Does  not  every  one  con- 


CHAPTER   XVI.,  N.  j  / 8  463 

firm  his  own  heresy?  Are  there  not  volumes  filled 
with  confirmations  of  the  two  heresies  that  reign 
in  the  Christian  world?  Make  up  ten  heresies, 
however  abstruse,  ask  an  ingenious  man  to  con- 
firm them,  and  he  will  confirm  them  all.  If  after- 
wards you  look  at  them  solely  from  the  confirm- 
ations will  you  not  see  the  falsities  as  truths?  As 
all  falsity  is  visible  in  the  natural  man  from  its  ap- 
pearances and  fallacies,  and  truth  is  visible  in  the 
spiritual  man  only,  it  is  clear  that  falsity  can  be 
confirmed  more  readily  than  truth. 

To  make  clear  that  every  falsity  and  every  evil 
can  be  so  confirmed  as  'to  make  the  falsity  appear 
like  truth  and  the  evil  like  good,  let  it  be  proved, 
for  example,  that  light  is  darkness  and  darkness 
light.  May  it  not  be  asked,  "  What  is  light  in  itself? 
Is  it  anything  more  than  a  something  that  appears 
to  the  eye  according  to  its  state?  What  is  light 
to  the  closed  eye?  Have  not  bats  and  birds  of 
night  such  eyes  that  they  see  light  as  darkness 
and  darkness  as  light?"  I  have  been  told  that  some 
men  see  in  this  way ;  and  that  the  infernals,  al- 
though they  are  in  darkness,  still  see  each  other. 
Does  not  man  have  light  in  his  dreams  at  midnight? 
Thus  is  not  darkness  light,  and  light  darkness? 
But  it  may  be  answered  :  "  What  of  this?  Light  is 
light  as  truth  is  truth;  and  darkness  is  darkness 
as  falsity  is  falsity." 

Take  another  example  :  It  is  to  be  proved  that 
a  raven  is  white.  May  it  not  be  said  that  its  black- 
ness is  onlv  a  shade  that  is  not  its  real  self?  Its 


464  T//£  THYME  TROYIDENCE 

feathers  are  white  within,  so  is  its  body ;  and  these 
are  the  substances  of  which  the  bird  is  formed. 
As  its  blackness  is  a  shade,  so  the  raven  grows 
white  when  it  gets  old — such  have  been  seen. 
What  is  black  in  itself  but  white  ?  Pulverize  black 
glass,  and  you  will  see  that  the  powder  is  white ; 
therefore  when  you  call  the  raven  black  you  speak 
from  the  shadow  and  not  from  the  reality.  But  the 
reply  may  be,  "  What  of  this?  In  this  way  all  birds 
might  be  called  white."  Although  all  this  is  contrary 
to  sound  reason  it  has  been  presented  to  show  how 
confirmations  can  be  found  for  falsity  that  is  directly 
opposite  to  the  truth,  and  for  evil  that  is  wholly  op- 
posite to  the  good. 

Secondly  :  When  falsity  has  been  confirmed  the 
truth  is  not  seen,  but  front  confirmed  truth  falsity 
is  seen.  All  falsity  is  in  darkness,  and  all  truth  is 
in  light ;  and  in  darkness  nothing  is  seen,  and  what 
any  thing  is  is  known  only  by  handling  it ;  in  light 
it  is  otherwise.  For  this  reason,  in  the  Word  falsi- 
ties are  called  darkness,  and  thus  those  that  are  in 
falsities  are  said  to  walk  in  darkness  and  in  the 
shadow  of  death.  On  the  other  hand,  truths  are 
there  called  light,  and  thus  those  that  are  in  truths 
are  said  to  walk  in  the  light,  and  are  called  child- 
ren of  light. 

There  are  many  things  to  show  that  when  falsity 
has  been  confirmed  truth  is  not  seen,  and  that  from 
confirmed  truth  falsity  is  seen.  For  example,  who 
could  see  any  spiritual  truth  if  it  were  not  taught  in 
the  Word  ?  Would  there  not  be  merely  thick  dark- 


CHAPTER  XVI. ,  N.  }l8  465 

ness  that  could  be  dispelled  only  by  means  of  the 
light  in  which  the  Word  is,  and  only  in  him  who 
is  willing  to  be  enlightened?  What  heretic  can  see 
his  falsities  unless  he  accepts  the  genuine  truths  of 
the  church  ?  He  does  not  see  them  before.  I  have 
spoken  with  those  who  have  confirmed  themselves 
in  faith  separate  from  charity;  and  when  asked 
whether  they  saw  how  much  is  said  in  the  Word 
about  love  and  charity,  about  works  and  deeds,  and 
keeping  the  commandments,  and  that  he  is  called 
blessed  and  wise  who  does  them,  and  foolish  who 
does  them  not,  they  said,  that  while  reading  all  this 
they  saw  it  only  as  a  matter  of  faith,  and  thus  they 
passed  it  by  with  their  eyes  shut,  as  it  were. 

Those  that  have  confirmed  themselves  in  falsi- 
ties are  like  those  who  see  cracks  in  a  wall ;  and 
in  the  shades  of  evening  they  see  them  in  their  fan- 
cies as  a  horseman  or  a  man,  but  this  fanciful  im- 
age is  dispelled  by  the  light  of  day.  Who  can  have 
a  sense  of  the  spiritual  uncleanness  of  adultery  ex- 
cept one  who  is  in  the  spiritual  cleanness  of  chast- 
ity? Who  can  have  a  sense  of  the  cruelty  of  re- 
venge except  one  who  is  in  good  from  love  of  the 
neighbor?  Who  that  is  an  adulterer,  or  that  is 
eager  for  revenge,  does  not  sneer  at  those  who  call 
the  delights  of  such  things  infernal,  and  on  the  other 
hand,  call  the  delights  of  conjugial  love  and  of  love 
for  the  neighbor  heavenly?  And  so  on. 

Thirdly :  An  ability  to  confirm  whatever  one 
pleases  is  not  intelligence,  but  only  ingenuity,  which 
may  exist  even  in  the  worst  of  men.  There  are 


466  THE^IISINE  TROYIDENCE 


some  who  are  very  skilful  in  confirming,  and  al- 
though ignorant  of  any  truth  are  able  to  confirm 
both  truth  and  falsity;  and  some  of  them  ask,  "  What 
is  truth?  Is  there  any?  Is  not  that  true  that 
I  make  true?"  And  yet  such  are  believed  in  the 
world  to  be  intelligent  ;  although  they  are  but  wall 
plasterers.  Only  those  who  perceive  truth  to  be 
truth  are  intelligent,  and  they  confirm  truth  by 
verities  continually  perceived.  There  is  little  dis- 
cernible difference  between  these  two  classes,  be- 
cause there  is  little  discernible  difference  between 
the  light  of  confirmation  and  the  light  of  the  per- 
ception of  truth  ;  and  those  who  are  in  the  light  of 
confirmation  seem  to  be  also  in  the  light  of  the 
perception  of  truth  ;  and  yet  the  difference  between 
them  is  like  that  between  illusive  light  and  genu- 
ine light  ;  and  illusive  light  is  such  that  in  the  spir- 
itual world  it  is  turned  into  darkness  when  gen- 
uine light  flows  in.  Such  illusive  light  prevails  with 
many  in  hell,  and  when  these  are  brought  into 
genuine  light  they  see  nothing  at  all.  From  all  this 
it  is  clear  that  the  ability  to  confirm  whatever  one 
pleases  is  mere  ingenuity,  and  may  exist  even  in 
the  worst  of  men. 

Fourthly  :  There  z'j  confirmation  that  is  intel- 
lectual and  not  at  the  same  time  voluntary  ;  but  all 
voluntary  confirmation  is  also  intellectual.  This 
may  be  illustrated  by  examples.  Those  who  con- 
firm the  doctrine  of  faith  separate  from  charity  and 
yet  live  a  life  of  charity,  or  in  general  those  who 
confirm  falsity  of  doctrine  and  yet  do  not  live  ac- 


CHAP TtR   X VI.,  N.  J}f8  46 1 

cording  to  it,  are  those  that  are  in  intellectual  con- 
firmation and  not  at  the  same  time  in  voluntary, 
while  those  that  confirm  falsity  of  doctrine  and  live 
according  to  it  are  those  that  are  in  both  voluntary 
and  intellectual  confirmation.  The  reason  of  this 
is  that  the  understanding  does  not  flow  into  the 
will,  but  the  will  flows  into  the  understanding.  This 
also  shows  what  falsity  of  evil  is,  and  what  falsity 
not  of  evil  is.  Falsity  not  of  evil  can  be  conjoined 
with  good,  but  falsity  of  evil  cannot,  for  the  reason 
that  falsity  not  of  evil  is  falsity  in  the  understand- 
ing and  not  in  the  will ;  while  falsity  of  evil  is  fals- 
ity in  the  understanding  from  evil  in  the  will. 

Fifthly  :  The  confirmation  of  evil  that  is  both 
voluntary  and  intellectual  causes  man  to  believe  that 
his  own  prudence  is  everything  and  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence nothing ;  but  this  is  not  true  of  intellect- 
ual confirmation  alone.  There  are  many  who  by 
worldly  appearances  confirm  in  themselves  their 
own  prudence  and  yet  do  not  deny  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence ;  with  such  there  exists  only  intellectual 
confirmation ;  while  with  those  who  *at  the  same 
time  deny  the  Divine  providence  there  exists  also 
voluntary  confirmation  ;  but  this,  together  with  per- 
suasion, exists  chiefly  with  those  who  are  worship- 
pers of  nature  and  also  worshippers  of  self. 

Sixthly:  Every  thing  confirmed  by  both  the  will 
and  the  understanding  remains  to  eternity,  but  not 
what  has  been  confirmed  by  the  understanding  only. 
For  that  which  pertains  to  the  understanding  alone 
is  not  within  the  man  but  is  outside  of  him  ;  it 


468  THE  ^DIYINE  'PROVIDENCE 

is  merely  in  the  thought ;  and  nothing-  enters  into 
man  and  is  appropriated  to  him  until  it  is  accepted 
by  the  will,  for  it  then  comes  to  be  of  his  life's  love. 
That  this  remains  to  eternity  will  be  considered  in 
the  following  number. 

319.  Every  thing  confirmed  by  both  the  will 
and  the  understanding  remains  to  eternity,  because 
every  one  is  his  own  love,  and  his  love  belongs  to 
his  will ;  also  because  every  man  is  his  own  good 
or  his  own  evil,  for  every  thing  that  is  called  good, 
and  likewise  evil,  belongs  to  the  love.  As  man  is 
his  own  love  he  is  also  a  form  of  his  love,  and  may 
be  called  the  organ  of  his  life's  love.  It  has  been 
said  above  (n.  279),  that  the  affections  of  the  love 
and  consequent  thoughts  of  man  are  changes  and 
variations  of  the  state  and  form  of  the  organic  sub- 
stances of  his  mind.  What  these  changes  and  va- 
riations are  and  their  nature  shall  now  be  explained. 
Some  idea  of  them  may  be  gathered  from  the  heart 
and  lungs,  where  there  are  alternate  expansions  and 
compressions,  or  dilations  and  contractions,  which 
in  the  heart' are  called  systole  and  diastole  and  in 
the  lungs  respirations ;  these  are  a  reciprocal  dis- 
tension and  retraction  or  stretching  and  closing  to- 
gether of  their  lobes.  Such  are  the  changes  and 
variations  of  the  state  of  the  heart  and  lungs.  There 
are  like  changes  in  the  other  viscera  of  the  body, 
and  still  more  in  their  parts,  by  which  the  blood 
and  the  animal  juice  are  received  and  carried  on- 
ward. 

Like   things   are  to   be   found   in    the  organic 


CHAPTER   XV I. ,  N.  319  469 

Ibrms  of  the  mind,  which  are  the  subjects  of  man's 
affections  and  thoughts,  as  has  been  shown  above ; 
with  the  difference  that  their  expansions  and  com- 
pressions, or  reciprocations,  are  relatively  in  such 
higher  perfection  as  cannot  be  expressed  in  the 
words  of  natural  language,  but  only  in  those  of 
spiritual  language,  and  these  can  have  no  other 
meaning  than  that  they  are  vortex-like  circlings 
inward  and  outward,  after  the  manner  of  perpetual 
and  curving  spirals  wonderfully  combined  into  forms 
receptive  of  life. 

The  nature  of  these  purely  organic  substances 
and  forms  in  the  evil  and  in  the  good  shall  now 
be  stated.  In  the  good  these  spiral  forms  are 
turned  forward,  but  in  the  evil  backward ;  and  the 
spiral  forms  turning  forward  are  turned  towards  the 
Lord  and  receive  influx  from  Him,  while  those 
turning  backward  are  turned  towards  hell  and  re- 
ceive influx  therefrom.  It  is  to  be  understood  that 
so  far  as  they  are  turned  backward  they  are  open 
behind  and  closed  in  front ;  and  on  the  other  hand, 
so  far  as  they  are  turned  forward  they  are  opened 
in  front  and  closed  behind. 

From  all  this  it  is  evident  what  kind  of  a  form 
or  organ  an  evil  man  is,  and  what  kind  of  a  form 
or  organ  a  good  man  is,  namely,  that  they  turn  in 
contrary  directions ;  and  as  the  turning  when  once 
fixed  cannot  be  reversed  it  is  clear  that  such  as 
man  is  when  he  dies  such  he  remains  to  eternity. 
It  is  the  love  of  man's  will  that  makes  the  turning, 
that  is,  that  converts  and  inverts,  for,  as  has  been 


47*0  THE  TUflNE  VROYIDENCE 

said  above,  every  man  is  his  own  love.  It  is  from 
this  that  every  man  after  death  goes  the  way  of  his 
own  love — he  that  is  in  a  good  love  to  heaven,  and 
he  that  is  in  an  evil  love  to  hell,  and  he  finds  rest 
only  in  that  society  where  his  reigning  love  is ; 
and  what  is  wonderful,  every  one  knows  the  way ; 
it  is  like  following  the  scent 

320.  (iv.)  If  man  believed,  as  is  the  truth,  that 
all  good  and  truth  are  from  the  Lord  and  all  evil 
and  falsity  from  hell,  he  would  not  appropriate  good 
to  himself  and  make  it  meritorious,  nor  appropriate 
evil  to  himself  and  make  himself  guilty  of  it. — But 
as  this  is  contrary  to  the  belief  of  those  who  have 
confirmed  in  themselves  the  appearance  that  wis- 
dom and  prudence  are  from  man,  and  do  not  flow 
in  according-  to  the  state  of  the  organization  of 
men's  minds  (of  which  just  above,  n.  319),  it  must 
now  be  made  clear ;  and  for  the  sake  of  distinct- 
ness this  shall  be  done  in  the  following  order : 
(i.)  To  one  who  confirms  in  himself  the  appear- 
ance that  wisdom  and  prudence  are  from  man,  and 
are  therefore  in  him  as  his,  it  must  needs  seem  that 
otherwise  he  would  not  be  a  man,  but  a  beast  or 
a  statue  ;  and  yet  the  contrary  is  the  truth.  (2.)  To 
believe  and  think,  as  is  the  truth,  that  every  good 
and  truth  is  from  the  Lord  and  every  evil  and  falsity 
from  hell,  appears  like  an  impossibility ;  and  yet 
it  is  the  truly  human  principle,  and  therefore  the 
angelic.  (3.)  To  believe  and  think  thus  is  impos- 
sible to  those  who  do  not  acknowledge  the  Divinity 


CHAPTER   XF/.,  N.  321  471 

of  the  Lord,  and  who  do  not  acknowledge  that  evils 
are  sins  ;  but  it  is  possible  to  those  who  do  ac- 
knowledge these  two  things.  (4.  )  Those  that  are 
in  these  two  acknowledgments,  so  far  as  they  shun 
and  turn  away  from  evils  as  sins  need  only  to  re- 
flect upon  the  evils  in  themselves  and  cast  them 
away  from  themselves  to  the  hell  from  whence  they 
are.  (5. )  Thus  the  Divine  providence  does  not  ap- 
propriate evil  to  any  one,  nor  good  to  any  one,  but 
his  own  prudence  appropriates  both. 

321.  These  things  shall  now  be  explained  in 
the  proposed  order.  First  :  To  one  who  confirms  in 
himself  the  appearance  that  wisdom  and  prudence 
are  from  man  and  are  in  man  as  his,  it  must  needs 
SCCDI  that  otherwise  he  would  not  be  a  man,  but  a 
beast  or  a  statue  ;  and  yel  the  contrary  is  the  truth. 
It  is  from  a  law  of  the  Divine  providence  that  man 
should  think  as  if  from  himself,  and  should  act  prud- 
ently as  if  from  himself,  but  should  nevertheless 
acknowledge  that  he  does  it  from  the  Lord.  From 
this  it  follows  that  he  who  thinks  and  acts  prud- 
ently as  if  from  himself  and  at  the  same  time  ac- 
knowledges that  he  does  it  from  the  Lord  is  a  man  ; 
while  he  who  confirms  in  himself  that  every  thing 
he  thinks  and  does  is  from  himself  is  not  a  man  ; 
neither  is  he  a  man  who,  because  he  knows  that 
wisdom  and  prudence  are  from  God,  still  waits  for 
influx  ;  for  the  latter  becomes  like  a  statue,  and  the 
former  like  a  beast.  It  is  evident  that  one  who  sim- 
ply waits  for  influx  will  become  like  a  statue,  for  he 
will  feel  that  he  must  stand  or  sit  motionless,  with 


472  THE  'DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

hands  hanging  down,  and  eyes  either  shut  or  open 
without  winking,  with  neither  thought  nor  anima- 
tion. What  is  there,  then,  of  life  in  him  ? 

It  is  also  evident  that  he  who  believes  that  every- 
thing that  he  thinks  and  does  is  from  himself  is 
not  unlike  a  beast,  for  he  thinks  only  from  the 
natural  mind  which  is  common  to  man  and  beast, 
and  not  from  the  spiritual  rational  mind  which  is 
the  truly  human  mind ;  for  this  mind  recognizes 
that  God  alone  thinks  from  Himself,  and  that  man 
thinks  from  God.  Consequently  such  a  man  knows 
no  difference  between  a  man  and  a  beast  except  that 
a  man  talks  and  a  beast  makes  sounds ;  and  he  be- 
lieves that  they  both  die  in  the  same  manner. 

Of  those  who  await  influx  there  is  something 
more  to  be  said.  They  receive  no  such  influx  [as 
they  expecY]  with  the  exception  that  a  few,  who 
heartily  desire  it,  occasionally  receive  a  kind  of  re- 
sponse through  a  vivid  perception  in  thought,  or 
by  a  tacit  speech  therein,  and  rarely  by  open  speech, 
to  the  effecl  that  they  should  think  and  act  as  they 
wish  and  as  they  can,  and  that  he  who  acts  wisely 
is  wise  and  he  who  acls  foolishly  is  foolish  ;  but  they 
are  never  instructed  thus  what  to  believe  or  to  do  ; 
and  this  in  order  that  human  rationality  and  liberty 
may  not  perish ;  which  are  given  that  every  one 
may  acl:  from  freedom  in  accordance  with  reason, 
with  the  appearance  that  he  acts  solely  from  himself. 
Those  who  are  taught  by  influx  what  to  believe  or 
what  to  do  are  not  taught  by  the  Lord  or  by  any 
angel  of  heaven,  but  by  some  enthusiastic  spirit, 


CHAP TER   XVI.,  N.  }2I  473 

Quaker  or  Moravian,  and  are  led  astray.  All  in- 
flux from  the  Lord  takes  place  by  enlightenment 
of  the  understanding,  and  by  an  affection  for  truth, 
and  through  the  affection  into  the  understanding. 

Secondly :  To  believe  and  think,  as  is  the  truth, 
that  every  good  and  truth  is  from  the  Lord  and 
every  evil  and  falsity  from  hell  appears  like  an 
impossiblity ;  and  yet  it  is  the  truly  human  princi- 
ple, and  therefore  the  angelic.  To  believe  and  think 
that  every  good  and  truth  is  from  God  seems  pos- 
sible, provided  nothing  further  is  said,  for  the  rea- 
son that  this  is  in  accordance  with  theological  faith, 
contrary  to  which  it  is  not  allowable  to  think.  But 
to  believe  and  think  that  every  evil  and  falsity  is 
from  hell  appears  impossible,  since  man  must  then 
believe  also  that  he  does  not  think  at  all.  Yet 
man  does  think  as  if  "from  himself  even  though 
from  hell,  because  the  Lord  gives  to  every  one 
the  appearance  that  his  thought  is  in  him  as  his 
own,  from  whatever  source  it  may  be.  Otherwise 
man  would  not  live  as  a  man,  nor  could  he  be  led 
out  of  hell  and  led  into  heaven,  that  is,  reformed, 
as  has  been  frequently  shown  above. 

So,  too,  the  Lord  enables  man  to  know,  and 
from  that  to  have  the  thought,  that  he  is  in  hell 
when  he  is  in  evil,  and  that  he  thinks  from  hell 
when  he  thinks  from  evil ;  He  also  enables  him  to 
think  about  the  means  by  which  he  may  escape 
from  hell  and  not  think  from  it,  and  may  come 
into  heaven  and  think  there  from  the  Lord  ;  and 
He  also  gives  man  freedom  of  choice.  From  all 


474  THE  'D/K/JVf 

this  it  can  be  seen  that  man  is  able  to  think  evil 
and  falsity  as  if  from  himself,  also  to  think  that  this 
or  that  is  evil  or  false ;  consequently  that  it  is 
only  an  appearance  that  he  does  this  from  himself, 
without  which  appearance  man  would  not  be  a 
man.  To  think  from  the  truth  is  the  truly  human 
principle  and  therefore  the  angelic ;  and  this  truth 
is  that  man  does  not  think  from  himself,  but  that 
it  is  granted  him  by  the  Lord  to  think  to  all  ap- 
pearance as  if  from  himself. 

Thirdly  :  To  believe  and  think  thus  is  impossible 
to  those  who  do  not  acknowledge  the  Divinity  of  tJie 
Lord  and  who  do  not  acknowledge  that  evils  are 
sins;  but  it  is  possible  to  those  who  do  acknow- 
ledge these  two  things.  It  is  impossible  to  those 
who  do  not  acknowledge  the  Lord's  Divinity  be- 
cause it  is  the  Lord  alone  trfat  enables  man  to  think 
and  to  will ;  and  those  who  do  not  acknowledge 
the  Lord's  Divinity,  being  disjoined  from  Him,  be- 
lieve that  they  think  from  themselves.  It  is  also 
impossible  to  those  who  do  not  acknowledge  evils 
as  sins,  because  such  think  from  hell;  and  in  hell 
every  one  imagines  that  he  thinks  from  himself. 
But  that  it  is  possible  to  those  who  do  acknow- 
ledge these  two  things  can  be  seen  from  what  has 
been  fully  set  forth  above  (n.  288-294). 

Fourthly :  Those  that  are  in  these  two  acknow- 
ledgments, so  far  as  they  shim  and  turn  away  from 
evils  as  sins  need  only  to  reflect  upon  the  evils  with- 
in them,  and  to 'cast  them  away  to  t/te  hell  from 
whence  they  are.  Every  one  knows  or  is  capable 


CHAPTER  XVI.,  N.  J2I  475 

of  knowing  that  evil  is  from  hell  and  good  from 
heaven  ;  therefore  every  one  can  know  that  so  far 
as  a  man  shuns  and  turns  away  from  evil  so  far  he 
shuns  and  turns  away  from  hell.  So,  too,  every  one 
can  know  that  so  far  as  any  one  shuns  and  turns 
away  from  evil  so  far  he  wills  and  loves  good ;  con- 
sequently so  far  he  is  delivered  from  hell  by  the 
Lord  and  led  to  heaven.  All  this  every  rational  man 
can  see,  provided  he  knows  that  there  is  a  heaven 
and  a  hell,  and  that  evil  is  from  its  own  origin,  and 
good  from  its  own  origin.  If,  then,  a  man  reflects 
upon  the  evils  in  himself  (which  is  the  same  thing  as 
examining  himself)  and  shuns  them,  he  then  frees 
himself  from  hell  and  casts  it  behind  him  ;  and 
introduces  himself  into  heaven,  and  there  beholds 
the  Lord  face  to  face.  It  is  said  that  man  does 
this,  but  he  does  it  as  if  from  himself,  but  in  fa<5t 
from  the  Lord.  When  from  a  good  heart  and 
from  a  pious  faith  man  acknowledges  this  truth  it 
lies  inwardly  hidden  in  all  that  he  afterwards  thinks 
and  does  as  if  from  himself,  like  the  prolific  princi- 
ple in  a  seed,  which  inwardly  accompanies  its  growth 
even  to  new  seed  ;  or  like  the  pleasure  in  the  appe- 
tite for  food  that  a  man  has  once  recognized  to 
be  wholesome  for  him  ;  in  a  word,  it  is  like  heart 
and  soul  in  all  that  he  thinks  and  does. 

Fifthly :  Thus  the  Divine  providence  does  not  ap- 
propriate evil  to  any  one  nor  good  to  any  one,  but 
his  own  prudence  appropriates  both.  This  follows 
from  all  that  has  now  been  said.  Good  is  the  end 
of  the  Divine  providence  ;  this  it  therefore  purposes 


476  THE  <D/K/N£  VROWDENCE 

in  all  its  workings.  Consequently  it  does  not  ap- 
propriate good  to  any  one,  for  good  would  thus  be 
made  meritorious  ;  nor  does  it  appropriate  evil  to 
any  one,  for  thus  man  would  be  made  guilty  of  the 
evil.  Nevertheless,  man  does  both  of  these  from 
what  is  his  own  (proprium)  because  this  is  nothing 
but  evil,  what  is  of  his  will  that  is  his  own  being 
the  love  of  self,  and  what  is  of  his  understanding 
that  is  his  own  being  the  conceit  in  his  own  intelli- 
gence; and  from  this  is  his  own  prudence. 


XVII. 


EVERY  MAN  MAY    BE    REFORMED,  AND    THERE  IS  NO   SUCH 
THING  AS  PREDESTINATION. 


SOUND  reason  declares  that  all  men  were  pre- 
destined to  heaven,  and  no  one  to  hell  ;  for 
all  are  born  men,  and  in  consequence  the  im- 
age of  God  is  in  them.  The  image  of  God  in  them 
is  the  ability  to  understand  truth  and  to  do  good. 
The  ability  to  understand  truth  is  from  the  Divine 
wisdom,  and  the  ability  to  do  good  is  from  the  Di- 
vine love.  This  ability  is  the  image  of  God,  which 
remains  in  every  sane  man,  and  is  not  eradicated. 
From  this  comes  his  ability  to  become  a  civil  and 
moral  man  ;  and  the  civil  and  moral  man  can  also 
become  spiritual,  for  the  civil  and  moral  is  a  re- 
ceptacle of  the  spiritual.  He  is  called  a  civil  man 
who  knows  the  laws  of  the  kingdom  wherein  he  is 
a  citizen  and  lives  according  to  them  ;  and  he  is 
called  a  moral  man  who  makes  these  laws  his  mor- 
als and  his  virtues,  and  from  reason  lives  them. 

It  shall  now  be  told  how  a  civil  and  moral  life 
is  a  receptacle  of  spiritual  life  :  Live  these  laws,  not 
only  as  civil  and  moral  laws,  but  also  as  Divine 
laws,  and  you  will  be  a  spiritual  man.  Scarcely  a 
nation  exists  so  barbarous  as  not  to  have  prohib- 
ited by  laws  murder,  adultery  with  the  wife  of  an- 


478  THE  'DIVINE   PROVIDENCE 

other,  theft,  false  witness,  and  injury  to  another's 
property.  The  civil  and  moral  man  observes  these 
laws,  that  he  may  be,  or  may  seem  to  be,  a  good 
citizen ;  but  if  he  does  not  also  regard  these  laws 
as  Divine  he  is  merely  a  civil  and  moral  natural 
man ;  while  if  he  does  also  regard  them  as  Di- 
vine he  becomes  a  civil  and  moral  spiritual  man. 
The  difference  is  that  the  latter  is  both  a  good  cit- 
izen of  the  earthly  kingdom  and  a  good  citizen  of 
the  heavenly  kingdom  ;  while  the  former  is  a  good 
citizen  of  the  earthly  kingdom  only,  and  not  of  the 
heavenly  kingdom.  The  difference  is  seen  in  the 
goods  they  do ;  the  goods  done  by  civil  and  moral 
natural  men  are  not  in  themselves  good,  for  the 
man  and  the  world  are  in  them  ;  the  goods  done 
by  civil  and  moral  spiritual  men  are  good  in  them- 
selves, because  the  Lord  and  heaven  are  in  them. 

From  all  this  it  can  be  seen  that  as  every  man 
was  born  that  he  might  become  a  civil  and  moral 
natural  man,  so,  too,  he  was  born  that  he  might  be- 
come a  civil  and  moral  spiritual  man  ;  and  this  is 
done  simply  by  his  acknowledging  God  and  not 
doing  evil  because  it  is  against  God,  but  doing 
good  because  it  is  accordant  with  God,  whereby 
a  spirit  enters  into  his  civil  and  moral  activities  and 
they  live ;  otherwise  there  is  no  spirit  in  them,  and 
therefore  they  are  not  living.  And  this  is  why  the 
natural  man,  however  civilly  and  morally  he  may 
act,  is  called  dead ;  but  the  spiritual  man  is  called 
living. 

It  is  of  the  Lord's  Divine  providence  that  every 


CHAPTER   XVII.,  N.  J22  479 

nation  has  some  religion  ;  and  the  primary  thing  in 
every  religion  is  to  acknowledge  that  there  is  a 
God,  otherwise  it  is  not  called  a  religion  ;  and  every 
nation  that  lives  according  to  its  religion,  that  is, 
that  refrains  from  doing  evil  because  it  is  contrary 
to  its  god,  receives  something  of  the  spiritual  in 
its  natural.  When  one  hears  some  Gentile  say  that 
he  is  unwilling  to  do  this  or  that  evil  because  it  is 
contrary  to  his  god,  does  he  not  say  to  himself, 
"Is  not  this  man  saved?  it  seems  as  if  it  could  not 
be  otherwise."  Sound  reason  declares  this  to  him. 
On  the  other  hand,  when  he  hears  a  Christian  say, 
I  make  no  account  of  this  or  that  evil ;  why  is  it 
said  to  be  contrary  to  God?  does  he  not  say  to 
himself,  "Is  this  man  saved?  it  seems  impossible." 
Sound  reason  declares  this  also. 

If  such  an  one  says,  "I  was  born  a  Christian,  I 
have  been  baptized,  I  have  known  about  the  Lord, 
I  have  read  the  Word,  I  have  attended  the  sac- 
rament of  the  Supper" — does  this  amount  to  any- 
thing if  he  does  not  regard  murders,  or  the  re- 
venge that  breathes  them,  adulteries,  secret  thefts, 
f.ilse  testimony  or  lies,  and  various  injuries,  as  sins  ? 
Does  such  a  man  think  about  God  or  any  eternal 
life?  Does  he  believe  that  there  is  any  God  or  any 
eternal  life?  Does  not  sound  reason  declare  that 
such  a  person  cannot  be  saved  ?  All  this  has  been 
said  respecting  a  Christian,  because  a  Gentile  thinks 
about  God  from  religion  in  his  life  more  than  a 
Christian  does.  But  on  this  more  shall  be  said  in 
what  follows,  and  in  this  order : 


480  THE  'DIVINE  TROWDENCE 

(i.)    The  end  of  creation  is  a  heaven  from  the 

human  race. 
(ii.)    Therefore  it  is  of  the  Divine  providence 

that  every  man  can  be  saved ;  and  that 

those  are  saved  who  acknowledge  God 

and  live  well. 

(iii.)    Man  himself  is  to  blame  if  he  is  not  saved. 
(iv.)    Thus  all  men  were  predestined  to  heaven, 

and  no  one  to  hell. 

323.  (i.)    The  end  of  creation  is  a  heaven  from 
the   human  race. — That   heaven  consists    solely   of 
those   that  were  born  men  is  shown  in  the  work 
on  Heaven  and  Hell  (published  at  London  in  the 
year  1758),  and  also  above;  and  as  heaven  consists 
of  no  others  it  follows  that  the  end  of  creation  is  a 
heaven  from  the  human  race.     That  this  was  the 
end   of  creation    has    been   shown    previously  (n. 
27-45)  5   but  it  can  be  made  clearer  by  an  explan- 
ation of  these  points  :   (i.)  Everyman  was  created 
to  live  to  eternity.     (2.)    Every  man  was  created  to 
live  to  eternity  in  a  state  of  blessedness.    (3.)  Thus 
every    man    was    created    to    come    into    heaven. 
(4.)   The  Divine  love  must  needs  will  this  ;  and  the 
Divine  wisdom  must  needs  provide  for  it. 

324.  Since  from  all    this    it  can  be  seen  that 
the  Divine  providence  is  a  predestination  to  heaven 
only,   and    cannot    be  changed   into   any  other,   it 
shall  now  be   shown  in  the  proposed  order,  that 
the  end  of  creation  is  a  heaven  from  the  human 
race.     First :  Every  man  was  created  to  live  for- 
ever.     In  the  treatise  on    The   Divine  Love    and 
the  Divine  Wisdom,  Parts  Third  and  Fifth,  it  has 


CHAPTER  XY1I.,  N.  324  481 

been  shown  that  there  are  three  degrees  of  life  in 
man,  called  the  natural,  the  spiritual,  and  the  ce- 
lestial, and  that  these  degrees  are  actually  in  every 
man  ;  while  in  beasts  there  is  only  one  degree  of 
life,  which  is  like  the  lowest  degree  in  man,  which 
is  called  the  natural.  From  this  it  follows  that  by 
the  elevation  of  his  life  to  the  Lord  man  is  above 
the  beasts,  in  such  a  state  as  to  be  able  to  under- 
stand what  pertains  to  the  Divine  wisdom,  and  to 
will  what  pertains  to  the  Divine  love,  thus  to  re- 
ceive the  Divine  ;  and  a  being  that  is  capable  of 
so  receiving  the  Divine  as  to  see  and  perceive  it 
in  himself  cannot  but  be  conjoined  with  the  Lord, 
and  by  that  conjunction  live  forever. 

What  would  the  Lord  be  in  relation  to  the 
entire  creation  of  the  universe,  if  He  had  not 
also  created  images  and  likenesses  of  Himself,  to 
whom  He  could  communicate  His  Divine  ?  Other- 
wise, what  would  He  be  but  a  causing  something 
to  be  or  not  to  be,  or  to  exist  or  not  to  exist,  and 
this  for  no  other  purpose  than  that  He  might  be 
able  from  afar  to  contemplate  mere  vicissitudes  and 
continual  changes  as  upon  a  stage  ?  What  of  the 
Divine  would  there  be  in  all  these  things,  unless  they 
had  as  their  end  to  be  serviceable  to  subjects  that 
could  receive  the  Divine  more  nearly,  and  see  and 
feel  it  ?  And  as  the  Divine  is  of  glory  inexhaustible, 
would  He  keep  this  to  Himself  alone,  or  would  it 
be  possible  for  Him  to  do  so  ?  For  love  desires  to 
communicate  its  own  to  another,  and  even  to  give 
from  its  own  as  much  as  it  can.  Must  not  the 


482  THE  VI^INE   TROWDENCE 

Divine  love,  then,  which  is  infinite,  do  this?  Can 
that  give  and  take  away  again?  Would  not  that 
be  to  give  what  must  perish?  and  inwardly  in  itself 
this  is  nothing,  because  when  it  perishes  it  comes 
to  naught.  That  which  is  is  not  in  it.  But  the 
Divine  love  gives  what  is,  or  what  does  not  cease 
to  be ;  and  that  is  eternal. 

In  order  that  every  man  may  live  to  eternity 
that  which  is  mortal  in  him  is  taken  away.  The 
mortal  in  him  is  his  material  body,  and  this  is  taken 
away  by  its  death.  Thus  what  is  immortal  in  man, 
which  is  his  mind,  is  unveiled,  and  he  then  becomes 
a  spirit  in  human  form  ;  his  mind  is  that  spirit. 
That  man's  mind  cannot  die  the  sages  or  wise  men 
of  old  saw  ;  for  they  said,  ''How  can  the  mind  (animus 
sen  mens)  die,  when  it  has  the  capacity  to  be  wise  ?" 
What  their  interior  idea  of  this  wras  few  at  this  day 
know ;  but  it  was  an  idea  that  descended  from 
heaven  into  their  general  perception,  namely,  that 
God  is  wisdom  itself,  and  of  this  man  is  a  par- 
taker, and  God  is  immortal  or  eternal. 

As  it  has  been  granted  me  to  talk  with  angels 
I  will  also  say  something  from  experience.  I  have 
talked  with  those  who  lived  many  ages  ago,  with 
those  who  lived  before  the  flood,  and  with  some 
who  lived  after  it,  with  those  who  lived  in  the  time 
of  the  Lord,  and  with  one  of  His  apostles,  and  with 
many  who  lived  in  later  ages,  and  they  all  appeared 
like  men  of  middle  age,  and  they  said  that  they 
knew  nothing  about  death  except  that  it  is  dam- 
nation. All  that  have  lived  well,  when  they  enter 


CHAPTER   XV II.,  N.  324  483 

heaven  come  into  an  age  like  that  of  early  man- 
hood in  the  world  and  continue  in  it  to  eternity, 
even  those  that  had  been  old  and  decrepit  in  the 
world.  Women  also,  although  they  had  been  old 
and  wrinkled,  return  into  the  flower  of  their  age 
and  beauty. 

That  man  after  death  lives  to  eternity  is  clear 
from  the  Word,  where  life  in  heaven  is  called  "  eter- 
nal life  " 

(as  in  Matt,  xix.  29  ;  xxv.  46  ;  Mark  x.  17 ;  Luke  x.  25  ; 
xviii.  30;  John  iii.  15,  16,  36  ;  v.  24,  25,  39  ;  vi.  27,  40, 
68  ;  xii.  50) ; 

also  simply  "life" 

(in  Matt,  xviii.  8,  9  ;  John  v.  40  ;  xx.  31) ; 

also  the  Lord  said  to  the  disciples : 

"  Because  I  live  ye  shall  live  also  "  (John  x"iv.  19) ; 

and  of  the  resurrection,  that 

"  God  is  not  a  God  of  the  dead  but  of  the  living  ;"  and 
that  they  cannot  die  any  more  (Luke  xx.  36,  38). 

Secondly  :  Every  man  was  created  to  live  to  eter- 
nity in  a  state  of  blessedness.  This  follows  as  a  con- 
sequence ;  for  He  who  wills  that  man  should  live 
to  eternity  also  wills  that  he  should  live  in  a  state 
of  blessedness.  What  would  eternal  life  be  with- 
out that?  All  love  desires  the  good  of  another — 
the  love  of  parents  desires  the  good  of  their  child- 
ren ;  the  love  of  bridegoom  and  husband  desires 
the  good  of  his  bride  and  wife ;  and  friendship's 
love  desires  the  good  of  friends  ; — why  not,  then, 


484  THE  T)IYINE  'PROVIDENCE 

the  Divine  love?  And  what  else  is  this  good  but 
delight?  And  what  is  Divine  good  but  eternal 
blessedness?  Every  good  is  called  good  from 
its  delight  or  its  blessedness.  What  is  given  or 
possessed  is  indeed  called  goods ;  but  unless  these 
are  delightful  they  are  barren  goods  that  in  them- 
selves are  not  good.  From  all  this  it  is  clear  that 
eternal  life  is  also  eternal  blessedness.  This  state 
of  man  is  the  end  of  creation ;  and  that  only  those 
who  come  into  heaven  are  in  that  state  is  not  the 
Lord's  fault,  but  man's.  That  it  is  man's  fault  will 
be  seen  in  what  follows. 

Thirdly  :  Thus  every  man  was  created  to  come 
into  heaven.  This  is  the  end  of  creation.  But  the 
reason  why  all  do  not  come  into  heaven  is  that 
they  imbibe  the  delights  of  hell,  which  are  opposite 
to  the  blessedness  of  heaven ;  and  those  that  are 
not  in  the  blessedness  of  heaven  cannot  enter  heaven, 
for  they  cannot  endure  it.  It  is  denied  to  no  one 
who  comes  into  the  spiritual  world  to  ascend  into 
heaven ;  but  when  one  who  is  in  the  delight  of  hell 
enters  it  he  is  seized  with  palpitation  of  the  heart 
and  labored  breathing,  his  life  begins  to  fail,  he  is  in 
anguish,  he  is  in  torment,  and  he  writhes  like  a  ser- 
pent put  near  a  fire ;  and  this  is  so  because  oppos- 
ite a6ls  against  opposite. 

And  yet  such  cannot  die,  because  they  were 
born  men  and  thereby  have  the  capacity  to  think 
and  will,  and  consequently  to  speak  and  do ;  and 
as  they  can  live  only  with  those  who  are  in  a  like 
delight  of  life  to  such  they  are  sent ;  consequently 


CHAPTER  XVIL,  N.  324  485 

those  who  are  in  the  delights  of  evil  are  sent  to  their 
own,  and  those  who  are  in  the  delights  of  good  to 
their  own.  Every  one,  in  facl,  is  permitted  to  be 
in  the  delight  of  his  evil  provided  he  refrains  from 
infesting  those  who  are  in  the  delight  of  good  ;  but 
as  evil  cannot  do  otherwise  than  infest  good — for 
there  is  in  evil  a  hatred  against  good — to  prevent 
their  doing  harm  they  are  taken  away  and  cast  into 
their  own  place  in  hell,  where  their  delight  is  turned 
into  what  is  undelightful. 

But  this  does  not  gainsay  the  truth  that  man 
from  creation  is  such,  and  therefore  is  born  such, 
that  he  can  enter  heaven  ;  for  every  one  who  dies 
in  infancy  enters  heaven,  is  there  brought  up  and 
instructed  as  a  man  is  in  the  world,  and  through 
an  affection  for  good  and  truth  imbibes  wisdom 
and  becomes  an  angel.  And  the  same  might  be 
true  of  the  man  who  is  brought  up  and  instructed 
in  the  world  ;  for  there  is  the  same  in  him  that  the 
infant  possessed.  Respecting  infants  in  the  spiritual 
world  see  the  work  on  Heaven  and  Hell  (published 
at  London  in  the  year  1758,  n.  329-345). 

But  the  reason  why  many  in  the  world  are  not 
prepared  for  heaven  is  that  they  love  the  first  de- 
gree of  their  life,  which  is  called  the  natural,  and  are 
unwilling  to  withdraw  from  it  and  become  spiritual  ; 
and  the  natural  degree  of  life  viewed  in  itself  loves 
nothing  but  self  and  the  world,  for  it  clings  to  the 
senses  of  the  body,  and  these  are  directed  towards 
the  world  ;  while  the  spiritual  degree  of  life  viewed 
in  itself  loves  the  Lord  and  heaven,  and  also  self 


486  THE  WINE   TROWDENCE 

and  the  world,  but  God  and  heaven  as  higher, 
chief  and  dominant,  and  self  and  the  world  as  lower, 
instrumental,  and  subservient. 

Fourthly  :  The  Divine  love  must  needs  will  this, 
and  the  Divine  wisdom  -must  needs  provide  for  it. 
That  the  Divine  essence  is  Divine  love  and  Di- 
vine wisdom  has  been  shown  in  the  work  on  The 
Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom.  It  is  also 
shown  there  (n.  358—370)  that  in  every  human  em- 
bryo the  Lord  forms  two  receptacles,  one  for  the 
Divine  love  and  the  other  for  the  Divine  wisdom, 
a  receptacle  of  the  Divine  love  for  the  future  will 
of  the  man,  and  a  receptacle  of  the  Divine  wisdom 
for  his  future  understanding  ;  and  that  thus  the 
Lord  has  endowed  every  man  with  a  capacity  to 
will  good  and  a  capacity  to  understand  truth. 

Since,  then,  man  from  his  birth  is  endowed  with 
these  two  capacities  by  the  Lord,  and  consequently 
the  Lord  is  in  these  capacities  as  in  His  own  with 
man,  it  is  clear  that  His  Divine  love  must  needs 
will  that  man  should  come  into  heaven,  and  there 
enjoy  eternal  blessedness  ;  also  that  the  Divine  wis- 
dom must  needs  provide  for  it.  But  since  it  is 
from  the  Lord's  Divine  love  that  man  should  feel 
heavenly  blessedness  in  himself  as  his  own,  and 
this  is  impossible  unless  man  is  kept  fully  in  the 
appearance  that  he  thinks,  wills,  speaks,  and  acls 
from  himself,  therefore  the  Lord  can  lead  man  only 
in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  His  Divine  provid- 
ence. 


CHAPTER  XVIL,  N.  J2$  487 

325.  (ii.)  Therefore  it  is  of  the  Divine  provid- 
ence that  every  man  can  be  saved,  and  that  those  are 
saved  who  acknowledge  God  and  live  well. — It  is 
clear  from  what  has  been  shown  above  that  every 
man  can  be  saved.  Some  hold  the  opinion  that 
the  Lord's  church  is  only  in  the  Christian  world, 
because  there  alone  is  the  Lord  known,  and  there 
alone  is  the  Word.  Nevertheless  there  are  many 
who  believe  that  the  church  of  God  is  general,  that 
is,  is  spread  and  dispersed  throughout  the  world, 
and  thus  exists  with  such  as  are  ignorant  of  the  Lord 
and  do  not  have  the  Word ;  and  they  claim  that 
this  is  not  the  fault  of  such,  and  that  they  have 
no  means  of  overcoming  their  ignorance,  and  that 
it  is  contrary  to  God's  love  and  mercy  that  some 
should  be  born  for  hell  who  equally  with  others 
are  men. 

Since,  then,  many,  if  not  all,  Christians  believe 
that  the  church,  which  is  also  called  a  communion, 
is  general,  it  follows  that  there  are  most  general 
principles  of  the  church  which  enter  into  all  relig- 
ions and  constitute  that  communion.  That  these 
most  general  principles  are  the  acknowledgment  of 
God  and  good  of  life  will  be  seen  in  the  following 
order:  (i.)  The  acknowledgment  of  God  causes 
a  conjunction  of  God  with  man  and  of  man  with 
God ;  and  the  denial  of  God  causes  disjunction. 
(2.)  Every  one  acknowledges  God  and  is  conjoined 
with  Him  so  far  as  his  life  is  good.  (3.)  Good  of 
life,  or  living  rightly,  is  shunning  evils  because  they 
are  against  religion,  thus  against  God.  (4.)  These 


488  THE  DIVINE  YROWDENCE 

are  the  general  principles  of  all  religions,  whereby 
every  one  can  be  saved. 

326.  But  these  must  be  examined  and  shown 
one  by  one.  First :  The  acknowledgment  of  God 
causes  a  conjunction  of  God  with  man  and  of  man 
with  God;  and  the  denial  of  God  causes  severance. 
Some  may  think  that  those  who  do  not  acknowledge 
God  can  be  saved  just  as  well  as  those  who  do 
acknowledge  Him,  provided  they  lead  a  moral  life. 
They  say,  "What  does  acknowledgment  accomplish? 
Is  it  not  mere  thought?  Can  I  not  easily  acknow- 
ledge God  when  I  come  to  know  with  certainty  that 
there  is  a  God  ?  I  have  heard  of  Him,  but  I  have 
not  seen  Him.  Make  me  see  and  I  will  believe." 
Such  is  the  language  of  many  who  deny  God  when 
they  are  allowed  to  reason  freely  with  one  who  ac- 
knowledges God.  But  that  the  acknowledgment  of 
God  conjoins  and  the  denial  of  Him  severs  will  be 
made  clear  by  certain  things  made  known  to  me  in 
the  spiritual  world.  When  any  one  there  thinks 
about  another  and  wishes  to  speak  with  him  the 
other  immediately  appears  present.  This  is  a  com- 
mon occurrence  there,  and  never  fails.  And  the 
reason  is  that  in  the  spiritual  world  there  is  no  dis- 
tance as  in  the  natural  world,  but  only  an  appear- 
ance of  distance. 

Again,  As  thought  from  any  knowledge  of  an- 
other causes  presence,  so  love  from  any  affection 
for  another  causes  conjunction ;  and  from  this  it  re- 
sults that  such  come  together  and  converse  in  a 
friendly  way,  dwell  in  the  same  house  or  in  the 


CHAPTER   XYIL,  N.  326  489 

same  society,  meet  frequently,  and  render  mutual 
services.  The  opposite  also  occurs,  as  that  he  who 
does  not  love  another,  or  still  more,  he  who  hates 
another,  does  not  see  or  meet  him,  but  they  are 
distant  in  the  degree  of  the  hate  or  absence  of  love ; 
and  even  if  he  is  present  and  recalls  the  hatred  he 
becomes  invisible. 

From  these  few  examples  the  ground  of  pres- 
ence and  of  conjunction  in  the  spiritual  world  can 
be  seen,  namely,  that  presence  comes  from  the  re- 
membrance of  another  with  a  desire  to  see  him, 
and  conjunction  from  an  affection  that  springs  from 
love.  The  same  is  true  of  all  things  in  the  hu- 
man mind;  in  it  are  things  without  number,  and 
the  several  particulars  are  there  associated  and  con- 
joined according  to  affections,  or  as  one  thing  loves 
another. 

This  conjunction  is  spiritual  conjunction,  which 
is  like  itself  in  things  general  and  particular.  This 
spiritual  conjunction  has  its  origin  from  the  con- 
junction of  the  Lord  with  the  spiritual  world  and 
with  the  natural  world,  in  general  and  in  particular. 
From  all  this  it  is  evident  that  so  far  as  any  one 
knows  the  Lord,  and  from  his  knowledge  thinks 
about  Him,  so  far  the  Lord  is  present ;  and  so  far 
as  any  one  acknowledges  the  Lord  from  an  affec- 
tion of  love  so'  far  the  Lord  is  conjoined  with  him : 
and  on  the  other  hand,  so  far  as  one  does  not 
know  the  Lord  the  Lord  is  absent ;  and  so  far  as 
one  denies  the  Lord  he  is  severed  from  Him. 

Conjunction  causes  the  Lord  to  turn  the  man's 


490  THE   TJIflNE  TROWDENCE 

face  to  Himself,  and  then  He  leads  him.  Sever- 
ance causes  hell  to  turn  the  man's  face  to  itself,  and 
he  is  then  led  by  hell.  Therefore  all  the  angels  of 
heaven  turn  their  faces  to  the  Lord  as  a  sun  ;  and 
all  the  spirits  of  hell  turn  their  faces  away  from 
Him.  This  makes  clear  what  acknowledgment  of 
God  accomplishes,  and  what  the  denial  of  God  ac- 
complishes. And  those  who  deny  God  in  the  world 
deny  Him  after  death ;  and  they  acquire  an  organ- 
ization such  as  is  described  above  (n.  319),  and  the 
organization  taken  on  in  the  world  remains  to  eter- 
nity. 

Secondly  :  Every  one  acknowledges  God  and  is 
conjoined  with  Him  so  far  as  his  life  is  good.  All 
who  know  anything  from  religion  can  know  God, 
and  from  knowledge  or  memory  they  can  talk 
about  God  and  some  from  the  understanding  can 
think  about  Him  ;  but  if  they  do  not  live  well  this 
effecls  nothing  but  presence ;  for  with  all  this  they 
can  turn  themselves  away  from  God  and  towards 
hell,  and  this  they  do  if  they  live  wickedly.  But 
only  those  who  live  well  can  acknowledge  God  in 
heart ;  and  these,  in  the  measure  of  their  good  of 
life,  the  Lord  turns  away  from  hell  and  towards 
Himself.  This  is  because  these  alone  love  God, 
for  they  love  the  Divine  things  that  are  from  Him 
in  that  they  do  them.  The  Divine  things  that  are 
from  God  are  the  commandments  of  His  law;  these 
are  God  because  He  is  Himself  His  own  proceed- 
ing Divine ;  and  this  is  loving  God,  for  the  Lord 
savs  : 


CHAPTER   XVII.,  N.  326  491 

He  that  keepeth  My  commandments,  he  it  is  that  loveth 
Me  ;  but  he  that  keepeth  not  My  commandments  loveth 
Me  not  (y"ohn  xiv.  21-24). 

For  this  reason  there  are  two  tables  of  the  dec- 
alogue, one  relating  to  God  and  the  other  relating 
to  man.  God  works  unceasingly  to  the  end  that 
man  may  receive  what  is  in  man's  table  ;  but  if  man 
fails  to  do  the  things  that  are  in  his  table  he  does 
not  accept  with  acknowledgment  of  heart  the  things 
that  are  in  God's  table  ;  and  if  he  does  not  accept 
he  is  not  conjoined.  This  is  why  the  two  tables 
were  so  conjoined  as  to  be  one,  and  were  called 
the  tables  of  the  covenant,  ' '  covenant ' '  signifying 
conjunction.  Every  one  acknowledges  God  and  is 
conjoined  with  Him  according  to  the  good  of  his 
life,  for  the  reason  that  good  of  life  is  like  the  good 
that  is  in  the  Lord,  and  therefore  comes  from  the 
Lord  ;  consequently  when  man  is  in  good  of  life  a 
conjunction  is  effected.  With  evil  of  life  the  op- 
posite is  true.  This  rejects  the  Lord. 

Thirdly  :  Good  of  life,  or  living  rightly,  is  shun- 
ning evils  because  they  are  against  religion,  thus 
against  God.  That  this  is  good  of  life,  or  living 
rightly,  is  fully  shown  in  the  Do£lrine  of  Life  for 
the  New  Jerusalem,  from  beginning  to  end.  To 
which  I  will  merely  add,  that  if  you  do  good  to  the 
fullest  extent — for  example,  building  temples,  deco- 
rating them  and  filling  them  with  offerings,  sus- 
taining hospitals  and  asylums,  giving  alms  every 
day,  succoring  widows  and  orphans,  observing  dili- 
gently the  holy  things  of  worship,  and  even  think- 


492  THE  HDIVINE   "PROVIDENCE 

ing  and  talking  and  preaching  about  them  as  if 
from  the  heart,  and  yet  do  not  shun  evils  as  sins 
against  God,  none  of  these  goods  are  good  ;  they 
are  either  hypocritical  or  meritorious,  for  evil  is  still 
inwardly  in  them.  For  one's  life  is  in  all  things 
and  in  each  one  of  the  things  that  he  does  ;  and 
goods  can  become  goods  only  by  the  removal  of 
evil  from  them.  All  this  makes  clear  that  living 
rightly  is  shunning  evils  because  they  are  against 
religion,  and  thus  against  God. 

Fourthly  :  These  are  the  general  principles  of 
all  religions,  whereby  every  one  can  be  saved.  To 
acknowledge  God  and  to  refrain  from  doing  evil 
because  it  is  against  God  are  the  two  things  that 
make  a  religion  to  be  a  religion  ;  and  if  one  of  these 
is  lacking  it  cannot  be  called  a  religion,  for  to  ac- 
knowledge God  and  to  do  evil  is  a  contradiction  ; 
also  to  do  good  and  not  acknowledge  God  ;  for 
one  is  not  possible  without  the  other.  The  Lord 
provides  that  there  shall  be  some  religion  nearly 
everywhere,  and  that  there  shall  be  these  two  things 
in  every  religion.  The  Lord  also  provides  that 
every  one  who  acknowledges  God  and  refrains 
from  doing  evil  because  it  is  against  God  should 
have  a  place  in  heaven.  For  heaven  in  the  complex 
resembles  a  single  man,  whose  life  or  soul  is  the 
Lord.  In  that  heavenly  Man  are  all  things  that 
are  in  a  natural  man,  with  a  difference  like  that 
between  heavenly  and  natural  things. 

It  is  known  that  in  man,  in  addition  to  forms 
organized  of  blood-vessels  and  nervous  fibres,  which 


CHAPTER   XVII.,  N.  326  493 

are  called  viscera,  there  are  skins,  membranes,  ten- 
dons, cartilages,  bones,  nails,  and  teeth  ;  these  are 
living  in  a  less  degree  than  the  organized  forms 
themselves  to  which  they  are  subservient  as  liga- 
ments, coverings,  and  supports.  So  the  heavenly 
Man,  which  is  heaven,  if  all  these  things  are  to  be 
in  it,  must  be  composed  not  of  men  of  a  single 
religion  but  of  men  of  many  religions  ;  therefore  all 
who  make  these  two  universals  of  the  church  to 
enter  into  their  life  have  a  place  in  that  heavenly 
Man,  that  is,  in  heaven,  and  enjoy  happiness  in  their 
degree.  But  this  subject  has  already  been  treated 
of  (n.  254). 

That  these  two  are  the  primary  principles  in 
every  religion  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  they  are 
what  the  decalogue  teaches  ;  and  the  decalogue  was 
the  first  thing  of  the  Word,  was  promulgated  by 
Jehovah  by  a  living  voice  from  Mount  Sinai,  was 
written  by  the  finger  of  God  on  two  tables  of  stone, 
and  when  placed  in  the  ark  was  called  "Jehovah," 
and  constituted  the  Holy  of  Holies  in  the  taberna- 
cle, and  the  sanctuary  in  the  temple  at  Jerusalem, 
and  from  its  presence  alone  all  things  there  were 
holy  ;  besides  other  things  in  the  Word  respecting 
the  decalogue  in  the  ark,  cited  in  the  DoElrine  of 
Life  for  the  New  Jerusalem  (n.  53-61)  ;  to  which 
the  following  may  be  added  :  It  is  known  from  the 
Word  that  the  ark  containing  the  two  tables  on 
which  the  decalogue  was  written  was  taken  by  the 
Philistines  and  placed  in  the  house  of  Dagon  in 
Ashdod,  and  that  Dagon  fell  to  the  earth  before  it, 


494  THE   T>/F/N£ 

and  afterwards  his  head  and  the  palms  of  the  hands 
torn  from  the  body  lay  upon  the  threshold  of  the 
house  ;  and  that  the  people  of  Ashdod  and  Ekron, 
to  the  number  of  many  thousands,  were  smitten 
with  emerods  on  account  of  the  ark,  and  their 
land  was  laid  waste  by  mice  ;  also  that  the  Philis- 
tines, by  the  advice  of  the  lords  of  their  nation, 
made  five  golden  emerods  and  five  golden  mice  and 
a  new  cart,  and  placed  the  ark  upon  it,  and  near 
the  ark  the  golden  emerods  and  mice,  and  by  two 
cows  that  lowed  in  the  way  before  the  cart  they 
sent  back  the  ark  to  the  children  of  Israel,  wha 
offered  the  cows  and  the  cart  in  sacrifice  (i  Sam. 
v.  and  vi. ). 

It  shall  now  be  told  what  all  these  things  sig- 
nified. ' '  The  Philistines  ' '  signified  those  who  are  in 
faith  separated  from  charity  ;  ' '  Dagon  ' '  represented 
that  religion  ;  the  ' '  emerods  ' '  with  which  they  were 
smitten  signified  natural  loves,  which  are  unclean 
when  separated  from  spiritual  love  ;  the  ' '  mice  ' ' 
signified  the  devastation  of  the  church  by  means 
of  falsifications  of  truth  ;  the  ' '  new  cart ' '  upon 
which  they  sent  back  the  ark  signified  new  but 
natural  doctrine  (a  "chariot"  signifying  in  the 
Word  doctrine  from  spiritual  truths)  ;  the  "cows" 
signified  good  natural  affections  ;  the  ( '  golden  em- 
erods ' '  signified  natural  loves  purified  and  made 
good  ;  the  ' '  golden  mice ' '  signified  the  vastation 
of  the  church  removed  by  good  ( ' '  gold ' '  in  the 
Word  signifying  good)  ;  "the  lowing  of  the  cows 
on  the  way ' '  signified  the  difficult  conversion  of 


CHAPTER   XVIL,  N.J2J  495 

the  lusts  of  evil  of  the  natural    man    into   good 
affections;  "the  offering  of  the  cows  and  the  cart 
as  a  burnt  offering"  signified   that  the  Lord  was 
thus  propitiated. 

Such  is  the  spiritual  meaning  of  these  histo- 
rical statements.  Join  them  together  into  one  idea, 
and  make  the  application.  That  the  "Philistines" 
represented  those  who  are  in  faith  separated  from 
charity  niay  be  seen  in  the  Doctrine  of  the  New 
Jemsalem  concerning  Faith  (n.  49-54)  ;  and  that 
the  ark,  because  of  its  containing  the  decalogue, 
was  the  holiest  thing  of  the  church,  may  be  seen  in 
the  Doctrine  of  Life  for  the  New  Jerusalem  (n. 
53-6i). 

327.  (iii.)  Man  himself  is  to  blame  if  he  is  not 
saved. — Every  rational  man,  as  soon  as  he  hears  it, 
acknowledges  the  truth  that  evil  cannot  flow  from 
good  or  good  flow  from  evil,  because  they  are  op- 
posites  ;  consequently  that  from  good  nothing  but 
good  can  flow,  and  from  evil  nothing  but  evil. 
When  this  truth  is  acknowledged  it  is  also  acknow- 
ledged that  good  can  be  turned  into  evil,  but  it  must 
be  done  by  an  evil  not  by  a  good  recipient ;  for 
every  form  turns  into  its  own  quality  that  which 
flows  into  it  (as  may  be  seen  above,  n.  292).  Since, 
then,  the  Lord  is  good  in  its  very  essence,  or  good 
itself,  it  is  evident  that  evil  cannot  flow  from  Him 
or  be  produced  by  Him,  but  that  the  good  may 
be  turned  into  evil  by  a  recipient  subject  whose 
form  is  a  form  of  evil.  Such  a  subject  is  man  in 


496  THE   DIVINE  TROWDENCE 

respect  to  what  is  his  own  (proprium).  This  contin- 
ually receives  good  from  the  Lord  and  continually 
turns  it  to  the  quality  of  its  own  form,  which  is  a 
form  of  evil.  From  this  it  follows  that  man  is  to 
blame  if  he  is  not  saved.  It  is  true  that  evil  is  from 
hell ;  but  as  man  accepts  it  therefrom  as  his  own, 
and  thereby  appropriates  it  to  himself,  it  is  the  same 
thing  whether  evil  is  said  to  be  from  man  or 
from  hell.  But  how  evil  comes  to  be  appropriated, 
even  to  the  extent  that  religion  is  destroyed,  shall 
be  told  in  this  order  :  (i.)  In  process  of  time  every 
religion  declines  and  is  consummated.  (2.)  Every 
religion  declines  and  is  consummated  by  the  inver- 
sion of  God's  image  in  man.  (3.)  This  comes 
from  the  continual  increase  of  hereditary  evil  from 
generation  to  generation.  (4.)  Nevertheless  the 
Lord  provides  that  every  one  may  be  saved.  (5.) 
It  is  provided .  also  that  a  new  church  should  take 
the  place  of  a  former  devastated  church. 

328.  But  these  points  are  to  be  made  clear  in 
their  series.  First :  In  process  of  time  every  relig- 
ion declines  and  is  consummated.  On  this  earth 
there  have  been  many  churches,  one  after  another  ; 
for  wherever  the  human  race  exists  there  a  church 
exists,  because  heaven,  which  is  the  end  of  creation, 
is  from  the  human  race  (as  has  been  shown  above), 
and  no  one  can  come  into  heaven  unless  he  is  in 
the  two  universals  of  the  church,  acknowledgment 
of  God  and  a  good  life  (as  has  been  shown  just 
above,  n.  326).  It  follows  that  on  this  earth  there 
have  been  churches  from  the  most  ancient  times 


CHAPTER   XV 11.,  N.  }28  497 

down  to  the  present.  These  churches  are  described 
in  the  Word,  but  not  historically,  except  the  church 
of  Israel  and  Judah ;  but  there  were  others  pre- 
vious to  that,  and  these  are  described  only  by  the 
names  of  nations  and  persons,  and  by  a  few  things 
respecting  them. 

The  Most  Ancient  Church,  which  was  the  first, 
is  depicted  by  "Adam  and  his  wife  Eve."  The 
church  that  followed,  which  shall  be  called  the  An- 
cient Church,  is  depicted  by  "  Noah  and  his  three 
sons,"  and  by  their  posterity.  This  was  a  wide- 
spread church,  extending  through  many  kingdoms 
of  Asia, — the  land  of  Canaan  on  both  sides  of  the 
Jordan,  Syria,  Assyria  and  Chaldea,  Mesopotamia, 
Egypt,  Arabia,  and  Tyre  and  Sidon.  These  had 
the  ancient  Word  described  in  the  Doctrine  of  the 
New  Jerusalem  concerning  the  Sacred  Scripture 
(n.  101-103).  That  this  church  existed  in  those 
kingdoms  is  evident  from  various  things  said  of 
them  in  the  prophetical  parts  of  the  Word.  But 
this  church  was  notably  changed  by  Heber,  from 
whom  aro^e  the  Hebraic  Church,  in  which  worship 
by  sacrifices  was  first  instituted.  From  the  Hebrew 
Church  sprang  the  Church  of  Israel  and  Judah  ;  and 
this  was  solemnly  established  for  the  sake  of  the 
Word  which  was  there  to  be  compiled. 

These  four  churches  are  meant  by 

The  statue  seen  by  Nebuchadnezzar  in  a  dream,  the  head 
of  which  was  of  pure  gold,  the  breast  and  arms  of 
silver,  the  belly  and  thighs  of  brass,  and  the  legs  and 
feet  of  iron  and  clay  (Dan.  ii.  32,  33). 


498  THE  THYINE  TROWDENCE 

These  are  meant  also  by  the  golden,  the  silver,  the 
brazen,  and  the  iron  ages,  mentioned  by  ancient 
writers.  It  is  well  known  that  the  Christian  Church 
followed  the  Jewish.  From  the  Word  it  may  also 
be  seen  that  all  these  churches  in  process  of  time 
declined  until  they  reached  their  end,  which  is  called 
their  consummation. 

The  consummation  of  the  Most  Ancient  Church, 
which  came  from  their  "  eating  of  the  tree  of  know- 
ledge" (which  signifies  the  conceit  of  self-intelli- 
gence) is  depicted  by  "the  flood."  The  consumma- 
tion of  the  Ancient  Church  is  depicted  in  the  va- 
rious devastations  of  the  nations,  treated  of  in  the 
historical  and  in  the  prophetical  parts  of  the  Word, 
especially  in  the  expulsion  of  the  nations  from  the 
land  of  Canaan  by  the  children  of  Israel.  The 
consummation  of  the  Church  of  Israel  and  Judah 
is  meant  by  the  destruction  of  the  temple  at  Jerusa- 
lem, and  by  the  carrying  away  of  the  people  of  Is- 
rael into  perpetual  captivity,  and  of  the  Jewish 
nation  to  Babylon,  and  again  by  the  second  de- 
struction of  the  temple  together  with  Jerusalem,  and 
the  dispersion  of  that  nation.  This  consummation 
is  foretold  in  the  prophets  in  many  places  and  in 
Daniel  (ix.  24-27).  The  gradual  devastation  of 
the  Christian  Church  until  its  end  is  depicted  by 
the  Lord  in  Matthew  xxiv.,  in  Mark  xiii.,  and  in 
Luke  xxi.,  but  the  consummation  itself  in  the  Apoc- 
alypse. From  all  this  it  can  be  seen  that  a  church 
in  process  of  time — and  religion  also — declines  and 
is  consummated. 


CHAPTER   X'/U.,  N.  }28  499 

Secondly  :  Every  religion  declines  and  is  con- 
summated by  the  inversion  of  Gods  image  in  man. 
It  is  acknowledged  that  man  was  created  into  God's 
image,  after  God's  likeness  (Gen.  i.  26).  It  shall 
now  be  told  what  the  "image"  and  what  the  "like- 
ness" of  God  is.  God  alone  is  love  and  wisdom. 
Man  was  created  to  be  a  receptacle  of  both,  that 
his  will  might  be  a  receptacle  of  the  Divine  love 
and  his  understanding  a  receptacle  .of  the  Divine 
wisdom.  It  has  already  been  shown  that  these  two 
receptacles  are  in  man  from  creation,  and  that 
they  constitute  man,  and  are  formed  in  every  one 
in  the  womb.  Therefore  man's  being  an  "image" 
of  God  means  that  he  is  a  recipient  of  the  Divine 
wisdom,  his  being  a  "likeness"  of  God  means  that 
he  is  a  recipient  of  the  Divine  love ;  thus  the  re- 
ceptacle called  the  understanding  is  an  image  of 
God,  and  the  receptacle  called  the  will  is  a  like- 
ness of  God.  As  man,  then,  was  created  and  formed 
to  be  a  receptacle,  it  follows  that  he  was  so  created 
and  formed  that  his  will  might  receive  love  from 
God,  and  his  understanding  might  receive  wisdom 
from  God  ;  and  these  man  does  receive  when  he 
acknowledges  God  and  lives  according  to  His  com- 
mandments, but  in  a  less  or  greater  degree  as  from 
religion  he  has  knowledge  of  God  and  of  His  com- 
mandments, consequently  according  to  his  know- 
ledge of  truths  ;  since  it  is  truths  that  teach  what 
God  is  and  ho\v  He  must  be  acknowledged,  also 
what  His  commandments  are  and  how  to  live  ac- 
cording to  them. 


500  THE  «D  YINE  'PROVIDENCE 

God's  image  and  God's  likeness  are  not  de- 
stroyed in  man,  but  are  seemingly  destroyed;  for 
they  remain  implanted  in  his  two  capacities  called 
liberty  and  rationality  (which  have  been  frequently 
treated  of  above).  They  became  seemingly  de- 
stroyed when  man  made  the  receptacle  of  Divine 
love,  which  is  his  will,  a  receptacle  of  love  of  self, 
and  the  receptacle  of  Divine  wisdom,  which  is  his 
understanding,,  a  receptacle  of  self-intelligence.  In 
this  way  he  inverted  the  image  and  likeness  of  God, 
for  he  turned  these  receptacles  away  from  God  and 
turned  them  towards  self.  Thus  they  were  closed 
above  and  opened  below,  or  closed  in  front  and 
opened  behind,  although  by  creation  they  had  been 
opened  in  front  and  closed  behind.  When  these 
have  been  thus  opened  inversely  and  closed  in- 
versely the  receptacle  of  love,  or  the  will,  receives 
influx  from  hell,  or  from  what  is  its  own  (propriwn) ; 
and  the  receptacle  of  wisdom,  or  the  understanding, 
likewise.  From  this  there  has  sprung  up  in  the 
churches  a  worship  of  men  in  place  of  the  worship 
of  God,  and  a  worship  from  doctrines  of  falsity  in 
place  of  a  worship  from  doctrines  of  truth  ;  the  lat- 
ter from  self-intelligence,  the  former  from  love  of 
self.  This  makes  clear  how  in  process  of  time  re- 
ligion declines  and  is  consummated  by  the  inver- 
sion of  God's  image  in  man. 

Thirdly  :  This  comes  from  the  continual  increase 
of  hereditary  evil  from  generation  to  generation.  It 
was  stated  and  explained  above  that  hereditary  evil 
did  not  come  from  Adam  and  his  wife  Eve  by  their 


CHAPTER  XVII. ,  N.  328  501 

eating  of  the  tree  of  knowledge,  but  is  gradually  de- 
rived and  is  transplanted  from  parents  into  offspring, 
and  thus  by  continual  increase  grows  worse  from 
generation  to  generation.  When  evil  thus  grows 
worse  among  many  it  scatters  evil  from  itself  among 
others  still  ;  for  there  is  a  lust  of  seducing  in  all  evil, 
and  in  some  this  burns  with  rage  against  good  ; 
hence  the  contagiousness  of  evil.  When  in  the 
church  this  has  taken  possession  of  the  leaders,  the 
rulers,  and  the  champions,  religion  becomes  pervert- 
ed, and  the  means  of  cure,  which  are  truths,  become 
corrupted  by  falsification.  From  these  there  is  then 
a  gradual  vastation  of  good  and  desolation  of  truth 
in  the  church,  until  its  consummation  is  reached. 

Fourthly  :  Nevertheless  the  Lord  provides  that 
every  one  may  be  saved.  The  Lord  provides  that 
that  shall  be  everywhere  a  religion  ;  and  that  in 
every  religion  there  shall  be  the  two  essentials  of 
salvation,  which  are,  to  acknowledge  God  and  to 
refrain  from  doing  evil  because  it  is  against  God. 
All  other  things,  which  belong  to  the  understand- 
ing and  to  thought  therefrom,  and  which  are  called 
matters  of  faith,  are  provided  for  every  one  accord- 
ing to  his  life,  for  they  are  accessories  of  the  life  ; 
but  if  they  are  put  before  [the  essentials]  they  re- 
ceive no  life.  It  is  also  provided  that  all  that  have 
lived  well  and  have  acknowledged  Gocl  shall  be  in- 
structed after  death  by  angels  ;  and  then  all  those 
that  had  been  while  they  lived  in  the  world  in  these 
two  essentials  of  religion  accept  the  truths  of  the 
church  such  as  they  are  in  the  Word  and  acknow- 


502  THE  "DIVINE 

ledge  the  Lord  as  the  God  of  heaven  and  of  the 
church.  And  this  they  accept  more  readily  than 
Christians,  who  have  brought  with  them  from  the 
world  an  idea  of  the  Lord's  Human  as  separated 
from  His  Divine.  The  Lord  also  provides  that  all 
who  die  in  infancy  shall  be  saved,  wherever  born. 

Moreover,  there  is  granted  to  every  man  after 
death  ample  means  of  amending  his  life,  if  that  be 
possible.  All  are  taught  and  led  by  the  Lord  by 
means  of  angels ;  and  as  they  then  know  that  they 
are  living  after  death,  and  that  there  is  a  heaven 
and  a  hell,  they  at  first  receive  truths ;  but  those 
that  in  the  world  did  not  acknowledge  God  and 
shun  evils  as  sins  soon  weary  of  truths  and  with- 
draw ;  while  those  that  acknowledged  truths  with 
the  lips  but  not  with  the  heart  are  like  the  foolish 
virgins  who  had  lamps  but- no  oil,  and  who  begged 
oil  of  others,  and  who  went  away  and  bought,  and 
yet  were  not  admitted  to  the  wedding.  "  Lamps  " 
signify  truths  of  faith,  and  "oil"  signifies  the  good 
of  charity.  From  this  it  can  be  seen  that  the  Di- 
vine providence  makes  it  possible  for  every  one  to 
be  saved,  and  that  man  himself  is  to  blame  if  he  is 
not  saved. 

Fifthly  :  It  is  provided  also  that  a  new  church 
should  take  the  place  of  a  former  devastated  church. 
This  has  been  done  from  the  earliest  times,  that 
when  a  former  church  has  been  devastated  a  new 
church  has  taken  its  place.  The  Ancient  Church 
followed  the  Most  Ancient  ;  after  the  Ancient 
Church  the  Israelitish  or  Jewish  Church  followed  ; 


CHAPTER   XVIL,  N.J2(>  503 

and  after  this  the  Christian.  It  is  foretold  in  the 
Apocalypse  that  this  will  be  followed  by  a  new 
church,  which  is  there  meant  by  "the  New  Jeru- 
salem coming  down  out  of  heaven."  Why  the 
Lord  is  providing  a  new  church  to  follow  the  former 
devastated  church  is  explained  in  the  Doctrine  of 
the  New  Jerusalem  concerning  the  Sacred  Script- 
ure (n.  104-113). 

329.  (iv.)  Thus  all  men  were  predestined  to 
heaven,  and  no  one  to  hell. — That  the  -Lord  does 
not  cast  any  one  into  hell,  but  that  the  spirit  goes 
there  of  his  own  accord,  is  shown  in  the  work  on 
Heaven  and  Hell  (published  at  London  in  1758, 
n.  545-550).  This  every  evil  and  impious  person 
does  after  death,  and  the  evil  and  impious  man  in 
the  \vorld  does  the  same,  with  the  difference  that 
so  long  as  he  is  in  the  world  he  is  capable  of  be- 
ing reformed  and  of  accepting  and  being  instructed 
in  the  means  of  salvation,  but  not  after  his  depart- 
ure from  the  world.  The  means  of  salvation  relate 
to  these  two  points,  that  evils  must  be  shunned  be- 
cause they  are  contrary  to  the  Divine  laws  in  the 
decalogue,  and  there  must  be  an  acknowledgment 
that  there  is  a  God.  This  every  one  can  do  pro- 
vided he  does  not  love  evils  ;  for  the  Lord  is  contin- 
ually flowing  into  his  will  with  a  power  that  enables 
him  to  shun  evils,  and  into  his  understanding  with  a 
power  that  enables  him  to  think  that  there  is  a  God. 
Nevertheless,  no  one  can  do  the  one  apart  from 
the  other ;  the  two  are  joined  together  like  the 


504  THE  <D/F/N£  'PROVIDENCE 

two  tables  of  the  decalogue,  one  of  which  relates  to 
the  Lord,  and  the  other  to  man.  The  Lord  from 
His  table  enlightens  every  man  and  gives  him 
power,  but  man  receives  the  power  and  enlight- 
enment only  so  far  as  he  does  the  things  com- 
manded in  his  table ;  before  this  these  two  appear 
to  be  lying  one  upon  the  other,  and  sealed  to- 
gether ;  but  as  man  does  the  things  commanded 
in  his  table  they  are  unsealed  and  opened. 

What  is  the  decalogue  at  the  present  day  but 
like  a  little  sealed  book  or  writing,  opened  only  in 
the  hands  of  children  and  youth  ?  Say  to  any  one 
of  mature  age  that  a  thing  should  not  be  done 
because  it  is  contrary  to  the  decalogue,  and  who 
listens  ?  But  if  you  say  that  it  should  not  be  done 
because  it  is  contrary  to  the  Divine  laws,  he  might 
listen.  And  yet  the  commandments  of  the  deca- 
logue are  the  Divine  laws  themselves.  An  experi- 
ment was  made  with  several  in  the  spiritual  world, 
and  when  the  decalogue  or  catechism  was  men- 
tioned they  rejected  it  with  contempt.  This  was 
because  the  decalogue  in  its  second  table,  which  is 
man's,  teaches  that  evils  must  be  shunned  ;  and  he 
who  fails  to  shun  them  (whether  from  impiety  or 
from  the  religious  tenet  that  works  effect  nothing, 
but  faith  only)  can  hear  the  decalogue  or  catechism 
mentioned  only  with  some  degree  of  contempt,  as 
he  might  some  book  for  little  children  which  is  no 
longer  of  any  use  to  him. 

All  this  has  been  said  to  make  clear  that  no 
one  who  wishes  to  be  saved  will  be  left  without  a 


CHAPTER   XVII.,  N.  JjO  505 

knowledge  of  the  means,  or  without  the  power  by 
which  he  may  be  saved.  And  from  this  it  follows 
that  all  men  were  predestined  to  heaven  and  no 
one  to  hell.  But  as  a  belief  about  predestination 
to  non-salvation,  which  is  damnation,  has  been  held 
by  some,  and  as  this  belief  is  harmful,  and  can  be 
dispelled  only  when  the  madness  and  cruelty  in  it 
are  recognized  by  the  reason,  it  shall  be  considered 
in  the  following  order  :  (i.)  Any  predestination 
except  to  heaven  is  contrary  to  the  Divine  love 
and  its  infinitude.  (2.)  Any  predestination  ex- 
cept to  heaven  is  contrary  to  the  Divine  wisdom 
and  its  infinitude.  (3.)  That  only  those  bora  within 
the  church  are  saved  is  an  insane  heresy.  (4.) 
That  any  of  the  human  race  are  damned  by  pre- 
destination is  a  cruel  heresy. 

330.  To  make  clear  how  harmful  the  belief  in 
predestination  is  as  generally  understood  these  four 
propositions  must  be  taken  up  and  established. 
First :  Any  predestination  except  to  heaven  is  con- 
trary to  the  Divine  love,  which  is  infinite.  That 
Jehovah  or  the  Lord  is  Divine  love,  and  that  He  is 
infinite  and  the  Being  (Esse]  of  all  life,  and  that  man 
was  created  into  the  image  of  God  after  the  like- 
ness of  God,  has  been  shown  in  the  work  on  The 
Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom.  And  as 
every  man  is  formed  by  the  Lord  in  the  womb  into 
that  image  after  that  likeness  (as  has  also  been 
shown),  it  follows  that  the  Lord  is  the  heavenly 
Father  of  all  men,  and  that  men  are  His  spiritual 
children.  In  the  Word  Jehovah,  or  the  Lord,  is 


506  THE   *V1V1NE  'PROVIDENCE 

called  Father,  and  men  likewise  ;  for  he  says  : 

"  Call  no  man   your   father   upon   the  earth,   for   One  is 
your  Father,  who  is  in  the  heavens"  (Matt,  xxiii.  9) ; 

which  means  that  He  alone  is  the  Father  in  respect 
to  the  life  ;  and  that  the  earthly  Father  is  the  father 
only  in  respecl:  to  the  life's  covering,  which  is  the 
body  ;  therefore  in  heaven  no  father  is  mentioned 
except  the  Lord.  That  men  who  do  not  pervert 
that  life  are  said  to  be  His  sons  and  to  be  born  of 
Him  is  also  evident  from  many  passage^  in  the 
Word. 

Thus  it  can  be  seen  that  the  Divine  love  is  in 
every  man,  both  the  evil  and  the  good  ;  conse- 
quently that  the  Lord,  who  is  Divine  love,  can  not 
acl  towards  them  otherwise  than  as  a  father  on 
the  earth  acls  towards  his  children,  and  infinitely 
more  so,  because  the  Divine  love  is  infinite  ;  and 
again,  that  He  cannot  withdraw  from  any  one,  be- 
cause every  one's  life  is  from  Him.  He  appears 
to  withdraw  from  the  evil  ;  but  the  evil  withdraw 
from  Him,  while  He  from  love  still  leads  them.  So 
the  Lord  says  : 

"Ask  and  it  shall  be  given  you:  seek  and  ye  shall  find; 

knock  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you What 

man  is  there  of  you  who  if  his  son  as"k  for  a  loaf 
will  give  him  a  stone?  ....  If  ye,  then,  being  evil, 
know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your  children,  how 
much  more  shall  your  Father  who  is  in  the  heavens 
give  good  things  to  them  that  ask  Him?"  (Matt.  vii. 
7-n.) 

And  elsewhere  that 

"  He  maketh  His  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good, 


CHAPTER   XVII.,  N.  JJO  507 

and   sendeth  rain  on  the  just  and  on   the   unjust " 
(Matt.  v.  45). 

Moreover,  it  is  acknowledged  in  the  church  that  the 
Lord  wills  the  salvation  of  all,  and  the  death  of 
no  one.  All  this  shows  that  any  predestination  ex- 
cept to  heaven  is  contrary  to  the  Divine  love. 

Secondly  :  Any  predestination  except  to  heaven 
is  contrary  to  the  Divine  wisdom,  which  is  infinite. 
The  Divine  love,  through  its  Divine  wisdom,  pro- 
vides the  means  whereby  every  man  can  be  saved  ; 
consequently  to  say  that  there  is  any  predestination 
except  to  heaven  is  to  say  that  the  Divine  love  is 
unable  to  provide  the  means  by  which  there  is 
salvation.  Nevertheless,  as  has  been  shown  above, 
all  have  the  means,  and  they  are  from  the  Divine 
providence,  which  is  infinite.  But  the  reason  why 
there  are  some  that  are  not  saved  is  that  the  Di- 
vine love  wills  that  man  should  feel  in  himself  the 
happiness  and  blessedness  of  heaven,  since  other- 
wise it  would  not  be  heaven  to  him  ;  and  this  is 
impossible  unless  man's  thinking  and  willing  is 
made  to  appear  to  be  from  himself.  For  without 
this  appearance  nothing  could  be  appropriated  to 
him,  nor  would  he  be  a  man.  This  is  the  purpose 
of  the  Divine  providence,  which  is  of  the  Divine 
wisdom  from  the  Divine  love. 

But  this  does  not  invalidate  the  truth  that  all 
are  predestined  to  heaven  and  none  to  hell ;  and 
yet  it  would  if  the  means  of  salvation  were  lacking. 
But  that  means  of  salvation  have  been  provided  for 
every  one,  and  that  heaven  is  such  that  all  who  live 


508  THE  'DiyiNE   VROY1DENCE 

well,  of  whatever  religion  they  may  be,  have  a 
place  there,  has  been  shown  above.  Man  is  like 
the  earth,  which  produces  fruits  of  every  kind,  and 
it  is  because  of  this  power  that  the  earth  is  the 
earth ;  and  that  it  produces  bad  fruits  does  not 
preclude  its  ability  to  produce  good  fruits  also,  but 
this  would  be  precluded  if  the  earth  had  never  had 
the  ability  to  produce  any  thing  except  bad  fruits. 
Again,  man  is  like  an  object  that  variegates  in 
itself  the  rays  of  light ;  if  the  object  presents  no- 
thing but  disagreeable  colors  the  light  is  not  the 
cause,  for  rays  of  light  are  capable  of  being  varie- 
gated in  pleasing  colors. 

Thirdly  :  That  only  those  born  within  the  church 
are  saved  is  an  insane  heresy.  Those  born  out  of 
the  church  are  men  equally  with  those  born  within 
it ;  they  are  from  the  same  heavenly  origin,  and  are 
equally  living  and  immortal  souls.  They  also  have 
a  religion  from  which  they  acknowledge  that  there 
is  a  God,  and  that  they  must  live  rightly ;  and  he 
who  acknowledges  God  and  lives  rightly  becomes 
spiritual  in  his  degree  and  is  saved,  as  has  been 
shown  above.  It  may  be  said  that  such  have  not 
been  baptized  ;  but  baptizing  saves  none  except 
those  that  are  also  spiritually  washed,  that  is,  re- 
generated ;  for  baptism  is  for  a  sign  and  a  memorial 
of  this. 

Such,  it  may  be  said,  have  no  knowledge  of 
the  Lord,  and  without  the  Lord  there  is  no  sal- 
vation. But  no  one  is  saved  for  the  reason  that 
the  Lord  is  known  to  him,  but  because  he  lives 


CHAPTER  XVII.,  N.  }}O  509 

in  accordance  with  the  Lord's  commandments  ;  and 
the  Lord  is  known  to  every,  one  who  acknowledges 
God,  for  He  is  the  God  of  heaven  and  earth,  as  he 
teaches  (Matt,  xxviii.  18,  and  elsewhere).  Further- 
more, those  outside  of  the  church  have  a  clearer  idea 
of  God  as  a  man  than  Christians  have ;  and  those 
that  have  the  idea  of  God  as  a  man  and  live  well 
are  accepted  by  the  Lord.  Such  acknowledge 
God  as  one  in  person  and  essence,  as  Christians 
do  not.  They  also  think  of  God  in  their  life,  for 
they  make  evils  to  be  sins  against  God ;  and  those 
who  do  this  think  of  God  in  their  life.  Christians 
have  the  precepts  of  religion  from  the  Word,  but 
there  are  few  who  draw  from  it  any  precepts  of 
life. 

The  Papists  do  not  read  it ;  and  the  Reformed, 
who  are  in  faith  separated  from  charity,  pay  no 
attention  to  what  relates  to  life  in  it,  but  only  to 
what  relates  to  faith  ;  and  yet  the  whole  Word  is 
nothing  but  a  doclrine  of  life.  Christianity  exists 
only  in  Europe  ;  Mohammedanism  and  heathenism 
exist  in  Asia,  in  the  Indies,  in  Africa  and  America, 
and  the  human  race  in  those  parts  of  the  globe 
is  ten  times  more  numerous  than  in  the  Christ- 
ian portion ;  and  in  the  latter  there  are  few  who 
place  religion  in  life.  What  more  insane  belief,  then, 
can  there  be  than  to  hold  that  only  these  latter 
are  saved  and  the  former  are  damned,  and  that  man 
gains  heaven  by  his  birth  and  not  by  his  life? 
Therefore  the  Lord  says  : 


510  THE  'DIVINE  •PROVIDENCE 

"  I  say  unto  you  that  many  shall  come  from  the  east  and 
west,  and  shall  recline  with  Abraham  and  Isaac  and 
Jacob  in  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens  ;  but  the  children 
of  the  kingdom  shall  be  cast  out"  (Matt.  viii.  n,  12), 

Fourthly :  That  any  of  the  human  race  are 
damned  by  predestination  is  a  cruel  heresy.  For  it 
is  cruel  to  believe  that  the  Lord,  who  is  love  itself 
and  mercy  itself,  suffers  so  great  a  multitude  of  men 
to  be  born  for  hell,  or  so  many  myriads  of  myriads 
to  be  born  condemned  and  doomed,  that  is,  born 
devils  and  satans,  and  that  He  does  not  from  His 
Divine  wisdom  provide  that  those  who  live  well  and 
acknowledge  God  shall  not  be  cast  into  eternal  fire 
and  torment.  But  in  truth  He  is  the  Lord,  the  Cre- 
ator and  Saviour  of  all,  and  He  alone  leads  all  and 
wills  not  the  death  of  any ;  and  in  consequence  it 
is  cruel  to  believe  and  think  that  so  great  a  multi- 
tude of  nations  and  peoples  under  His  auspices 
and  oversight  have  been  handed  over  by  predes- 
tination as  a  prey  to  the  devil. 


xvra. 

THE  LORD  CANNOT  ACT  CONTRARY  TO  THE  LAWS  OF  THE 
DIVINE  PROVIDENCE,  BECAUSE  ACTING  CONTRARY  TO 
THEM  WOULD  BE  ACTING  CONTRARY  TO  HIS  DIVINE 
LOVE  AND  CONTRARY  TO  HIS  DIVINE  WISDOM,  THUS 
CONTRARY  TO  HIMSELF. 

331. 

IT  has  been  shown  in  the  Angelic  Wisdom  con- 
cerning the  Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wis- 
dom that  the  Lord  is  Divine  love  and  Divine 
wisdom,  and  that  these  two  are  Being  (JEsse)  itself 
and  life  itself,  from  which  every  thing  has  being  and 
life.  It  is  also  there  shown  that  this  same  goes  forth 
from  Him,  also  that  the  Divine  that  goes  forth  is 
Himself.  Of  all  that  goes  forth  the  Divine  provid- 
ence is  primary,  for  this  is  continually  in  the  end 
for  the  sake  of  which  the  universe  was  created.  The 
operation  and  progress  of  the  end  through  means 
is  what  is  called  the  Divine  providence.  Since,  then, 
the  Divine  that  goes  forth  is  Himself,  and  the  Di- 
vine providence  is  the  primary  thing,  that  goes 
forth,  it  follows  that  to  acl:  contrary  to  the  laws  of 
His  Divine  providence  is  to  acl:  contrary  to  Him- 
self. 

It  may  be  said  furthermore,  that  the  Lord  is 
Providence,  as  it  is  said  that  God  is  Order,  for  the 
Divine  providence  is  Divine  order  with  primary  re- 


512  THE  THY1NE  TROWDENCE 

gard  to  the  salvation  of  men  ;  and  as  there  is  no 
order  possible  without  laws,  for  laws  are  what  con- 
stitute order,  and  every  law  derives  from  order  that 
it  is  order,  it  follows  that  as  God  is  order  so  is  He 
the  law  of  His  order.  The  same  must  be  said  of 
the  Divine  providence,  that  as  the  Lord  is  His 
providence  He  is  also  the  law  of  His  providence. 
From  this  it  is  evident  that  the  Lord  cannot  acl 
contrary  to  the  laws  of  His  providence,  for  to  act 
contrary  to  them  would  be  to  act  contrary,  to 
Himself. 

Again,  there  can  be  no  operation  except  upon 
a  subject,  and  upon  it  through  means ;  operation 
except  upon  a  subject  and  upon  it  through  means 
is  impossible.  The  subjecl  of  the  Divine  providence 
is  man  ;  the  means  are  the  Divine  truths  whereby 
man  gains  wisdom  and  the  Divine  goods  whereby 
he  gains  love.  The  Divine  providence  through 
these  means  works  out  its  end,  which  is  man's  sal- 
vation ;  for  he  that  seeks  an  end  seeks  the  means 
also,  consequently  in  seeking  to  accomplish  an  end 
he  accomplishes  it  through  means.  But  all  this 
will  become  more  evident  when  examined  in  the 
following  order  : 

(i.)  The  operation  of  the  Divine  providence  for 
the  salvation  of  man  begins  at  his  birth 
and  continues  imtil  the  end  of  his  life 
and  afterwards  to  eternity. 
(ii.)  The  operation  of  the  Divine  providence 
goes  on  unceasingly  through  means,  out 
of  pure  mercy. 


CHAP  TER   XV III. ,  N.  JJ2  513 

(iii.)  Instantaneous  salvation  from  mercy  apart 
from  means  is  impossible. 

(iv.)  Instantaneous  salvation  from  mercy  apart 
from  means  is  "the  fiery  flying  serpent " 
in  the  church. 

332.  (i.)  The  operation  of  the  Divine  provid- 
ence for  the  salvation  of  man  begins  at  his  birth 
and  continues  until  the  end  of  his  life  and  after- 
wards to  eternity. — It  has  been  shown  above  that 
a  heaven  from  the  human  race  is  the  essential  end 
of  the  creation  of  the  universe,  and  that  this  end  in 
its  operation  and  progress  is  the  Divine  providence 
for  the  salvation  of  men ;  also  that  all  things  ex- 
terior to  man,  and  that  are  serviceable  to  him  in 
the  way  of  use,  are  secondary  ends  of  creation, 
which  in  brief  have  relation  to  all  things  in  the 
three  kingdoms,  the  animal,  the  vegetable,  and  the 
mineral.  When  these  things  go  forth  regularly  in 
accordance  with  the  laws  of  Divine  order  estab- 
lished in  their  first  creation,  how  is  it  possible 
for  the  primary  end,  which  is  the  salvation  of  the 
human  race,  not  to  go  forth  regularly  in  accord- 
ance with  the  laws  of  its  order,  which  are  the  laws 
of  the  Divine  providence  ? 

Watch  a  fruit  tree.  Does  it  not  first  have  birth 
as  a  slender  shoot  from  a  small  seed,  and  does  it 
not  afterwards  gradually  grow  to  a  trunk  and 
spread  forth  branches,  which  are  covered  with 
leaves,  and  then  put  forth  blossoms,  and  bring  forth 
fruit,  depositing  therein  new  seeds  by  which  it  pro- 
vides for  its  perpetuity?  The  same  thing  occurs 


514  THE  "DIVINE  PROVIDENCE 

with  every  shrub,  and  with  every  herb  of  the  field. 
In  these  do  not  each  thing  and  all  things  <^o  forth 
regularly  and  wonderfully  from  end  to  end  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  laws  of  its  order?  Why  not  like- 
wise the  primary  end,  which  is  a  heaven  from  the 
human  race?  Can  there  be  any  thing  in  its  pro- 
gress that  does  not  go  on  most  regularly  in  accord- 
ance with  the  laws  of  the  Divine  providence  ? 

As  there  is  a  correspondence  between  man's  life 
and  the  growth  of  a  tree,  let  a  parallel  or  compar- 
ison be  drawn  between  them.  Man's  infancy  is 
comparatively  like  the  tender  shoot  of  a  tree  sprout- 
ing up  out  of  the  ground  from  the  seed  ;  his  child- 
hood and  youth  are  like  that  shoot  growing  into  a 
trunk  with  its  little  branches ;  the  natural  truths 
that  every  one  first  imbibes  are  like  the  leaves  with 
which  the  branches  are  covered  ("leaves"  in  the 
Word  signifying  nothing  else) ;  the  man's  initia- 
tion into  the  marriage  of  good  and  truth,  that  is, 
the  spiritual  marriage,  is  like  the  blossoms  that  the 
tree  brings  forth  in  the  spring  time  ;  spiritual  truths 
are  the  petals  of  these  flowers ;  the  primary  activi- 
ties of  the  spiritual  marriage  are  like  the  begin- 
nings of  the  fruit ;  spiritual  goods,  which  are  the 
goods  of  charity,  are  like  the  fruit  (these  are  sig- 
nified by  " fruit"  in  the  Word)  ;  the  procreations  of 
wisdom  from  love  are  like  the  seeds,  and  by  these 
procreations  man  becomes  like  a  garden  or  a  para- 
dise. Moreover,  man  is  depicted  in  the  Word  by  a 
"  tree;"  and  his  wisdom  originating  in  love  by  a  "gar- 
den" ("the  garden  of  Eden"  signifies  nothing 


CHAPTER  XV 111.,  N.  jjj  5  15 

In  fact,  man  is  a  corrupt  tree  from  the  seed ; 
nevertheless,  a  grafting  or  budding  with  shoots  taken 
from  the  tree  of  life  is  possible,  whereby  the  sap 
drawn  from  the  old  root  is  turned  into  sap  forming 
good  fruit.  .This  comparison  has  been  made  to 
show  that  when  there  is  so  regular  a  progression 
of  the  Divine  providence  in  the  growth  and  regen- 
eration of  trees,  there  must  needs  be  a  regular 
progression  in  the  reformation  and  regeneration  of 
men,  who  are  of  much  more  value  than  trees,  ac- 
cording to  these  words  of  the  Lord  : 

"  Are  not  five  sparrows  sold  for  two  farthings,  and  not 
one  of  them  is  forgotten  in  the  sight  o*f  God  ?  But 
the  very  hairs  of  your  head  are  all  numbered.  Fear 
not,  therefore  ;  ye  are  of  more  value  than  many  spar- 
rows  And  which  of  you  by  being  anxious  can 

add  to  his  stature  one  cubit?  If  ye,  then,  be  not  able 
to  do  that  which  is  least,  why  are  ye  anxious  concern- 
ing the  rest?  Consider  the  lilies,  how  they  grow.  . . . 
If,  then,  God  so  clothe  the  grass,  which  is  today  in 
the  field  and  tomorrow  is  cast  into  the  oven,  how 
much  more  will  He  clothe  you,  O  ye  men  of  little 
faith?"  (Luke  xii.  6,  7/25-28.) 

333.  The  operation  of  the  Divine  providence 
for  the  salvation  of  man  is  said  to  begin  at  his  birth 
and  to  continue  unto  the  end  of  his  life.  To  un- 
derstand this  it  must  be  known  that  the  Lord  sees 
what  man  is,  and  foresees  what  he  wills  to  be,  thus 
what  he  will  be  ;  and  that  he  may  be  a  man  and 
therefore  immortal  the  freedom  of  his  will  must 
not  be  taken  away,  as  has  been  frequently  shown 
before.  Consequently  the  Lord  foresees  man's  state 
after  death,  and  provides  for  it  from  his  birth  until 


516  THE  'DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

the  end  of  his  life.  With  the  evil  the  Lord  pro- 
vides by  permitting-  evils  and  continually  withdraw- 
ing them  from  evils ;  while  with  the  good  he  pro- 
vides by  leading  to  good.  Thus  the  Divine  provid- 
ence is  unceasingly  in  the  wrork  of  .saving  men. 
But  no  more  can  be  saved  than  are  willing  to  be 
saved,  and  only  those  are  willing  to  be  saved  who 
acknowledge  God  and  are  led  by  Him  ;  and  those 
are  unwilling  who  do  not  acknowledge  God  and 
who  lead  themselves  ;  for  such  do  not  think  about 
eternal  life  or  about  salvation,  while  the  others  do. 
This  the  Lord  sees  and  still  He  leads  them,  and 
leads  them  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  His  Di- 
vine providence,  contrary  to  which  laws  He  cannot 
act,  since  to  acl:  contrary  to  them  would  be  to  act 
contrary  to  His  Divine  love  and  contrary  to  His 
Divine  wisdom,  which  is  to  acl  contrary  to  Himself. 
Since,  then,  the  Lord  foresees  the  states  of  all 
after  death,  and  also  foresees  the  places  in  hell  of 
those  who  are  not  willing  to  be  saved,  and  the 
places  in  heaven  of  those  who  are  willing  to  be 
saved,  it  follows  that  for  the  evil,  as  has  been  said, 
the  Lord  provides  their  places  by  permitting  and 
by  withdrawing,  and  for  the  good  by  leading  ;  and 
unless  this  were  done  unceasingly  from  every  one's 
birth  until  the  end  of  his  life  neither  heaven  nor 
hell  would  continue  to  exist,  for  without  that  fore- 
sight and  providence  together  neither  heaven  nor 
hell  would  be  anything  but  confusion.  That  the 
Lord  from  foresight  has  provided  for  every  one  his 
place  may  be  seen  above  (n.  202,  203). 


CHAPTER   XVIII.,  N.  ^4  517 

This  may  be  illustrated  by  a  comparison.  If  a 
marksman  should  aim  at  a  mark,  and  behind  the 
mark  a  straight  line  were  drawn  for  a  mile,  and  if 
he  should  err  by  a  finger's  breadth  in  his  aim,  his 
missile  or  ball  keeping  on  to  the  end  of  the  mile 
would  depart  very  far  from  the  line.  So  would  it 
be  if  the  Lord  did  not  every  moment,  and  even 
every  fraction  of  a  moment,  regard  the  eternal 
in  his  foreseeing  and  providing  every  one's  place 
after  death.  But  this  the  Lord  does  because  the 
entire  future  is  to  Him  the  present,  and  the  entire 
present  is  to  Him  the  eternal.  That  the  Divine 
providence  in  every  thing  it  does  has  regard  to  the 
infinite  and  eternal  may  be  seen  above  (n.  46-69, 
214,  seq.). 

334.  It  is  also  said  that  the  operation  of  the 
Divine  providence  will  continue  to  eternity,  since 
every  angel  is  perfecting  in  wisdom  to  eternity,  but 
each  according  to  the  degree  of  that  affection  for 
good  and  truth  in  which  he  was  when  he  left  the 
world.  It  is  this  degree  that  is  being  perfected 
to  eternity.  Anything  beyond  this  degree  is  out- 
side of  the  angel  and  not  within  him,  and  that 
which  is  outside  of  him  cannot  be  perfected  within 
him.  This  is  meant  by  the 

"  Good  measure,  pressed  down  and  shaken  together  and 
running  over,"  that  shall  be  given  into  the  bosom  of 
those  who  forgive  and  give  to  others  (Litke  vi.  37,  38), 

that  is,  who  are  in  good  of  charity. 


518  THE  DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

335.  (ii.)  The  operation  of  the  Divine  provid- 
ence goes  on  unceasingly,  through  means,  out  of 
pure  mercy. — There  are  means  and  modes  of  the 
Divine  providence.  Its  means  are  the  things  where- 
by man  becomes  a  man  and  is  perfected  in  respect 
to  his  understanding  and  his  will ;  its  modes  are 
the  ways  whereby  these  things  are  accomplished. 
The  means  whereby  man  becomes  a  man  and  is 
perfected  in  respect  to  his  understanding  in  general 
are  called  truths,  which  in  thought  become  ideas, 
and  in  the  memory  are  called  things.  In  themselves 
they  are  knowledges,  of  which  sciences  consist. 
All  these  means,  viewed  in  themselves,  are  spirit- 
ual ;  but  as  they  are  in  natural  things,  from  their 
covering  or  clothing  they  appear  natural,  and  some 
of  them  material.  These  means  are  infinite  in  num- 
ber and  infinite  in  variety ;  they  are  more  or  less 
simple  or  compound,  also  more  or  less  imperfect  or 
perfect.  There  are  means  for  forming  and  perfect- 
ing natural  civil  life,  for  forming  and  perfecting  ra- 
tional moral  life,  and  for  forming  and  perfecting 
heavenly  spiritual  life. 

These  means  follow  in  succession,  one  kind  after 
another,  from  infancy  to  the  last  period  of  man's 
life,  and  after  that  to  eternity ;  and  as  they  follow 
in  their  growth,  so  the  prior  become  the  means 
of  those  that  come  after,  for  they  enter  into  every 
thing  that  is  formed  as  mediate  causes,  since  from 
these  causes  every  effect  or  every  conclusion  be- 
comes effective,  and  thus  becomes  a  cause.  Thus 
in  succession  the  posterior  [or  last]  become  means ; 


CHAPTER   XV11I.,  N.  335  519 

and  as  this  process  goes  on  to  eternity  no  last  or 
outmost  which  brings  to  an  end  is  possible.  For 
as  the  eternal  is  without  end  so  the  wisdom  that 
increases  to  eternity  is  without  end.  If  wisdom 
with  a  wise  man  were  to  come  to  an  end,  the  de- 
light of  his  wrisclom,  which  consists  in  the  perpetual 
multiplication  and  fr unification  of  wisdom,  would 
perish,  and  thus  the  delight  of  his  life  would  per- 
ish ;  and  the  delight  of  glory,  in  which  alone  there 
is  no  heavenly  life,  would  take  its  place,  and  the 
wise  man  is  then  no  longer  like  a  youth,  but  like 
an  old  man,  and  finally  like  one  decrepit. 

Although  the  wisdom  of  a  wise  man  increases  to 
eternity  in  heaven  there  is  still  no  such  approx- 
imation of  angelic  wisdom  to  the  Divine  wisdom 
as  to  come  near  it.  It  may  be  compared  to  a 
straight  line  drawn  near  a  hyperbola  which  is  said 
to  approach  it  continually  but  never  to  touch  it; 
also  to  what  is  said  about  squaring  the  circle.  All 
this  makes  clear  what  is  meant  by  the  means  where- 
by the  Divine  providence  operates  in  order  that 
man  may  be  a  man,  and  may  be  perfected  in  re- 
spect to  his  understanding,  and  that  these  means 
are  what  are  commonly  called  truths.  Equally 
numerous  are  the  means  whereby  man  is  formed 
and  perfected  in  respect:  to  his  will ;  but  these  are 
what  are  commonly  called  goodnesses.  From  these 
man  has  love,  while  from  the  former  he  has  wis- 
dom. Their  conjunction  makes  the  man,  for  such 
as  the  conjunction  is  such  is  the  man.  This  con- 


520  THE  «D/F/N£  TROWDENCE 

junction  is  what  is  called  the  marriage  of  good  and 
truth. 

336.  The  modes  by  which  the  Divine  provid- 
ence operates  upon  the  means  and  by  the  means 
to  form  man  and  to  perfect  him  are  also  infinite  in 
number  and  infinite  in  variety ;  they  are  as  numer- 
ous as  the  operations  of  the  Divine  wisdom  from 
the   Divine   love   to  save  man,  thus  as   numerous 
as  the  operations  of  the  Divine  providence  in  ac- 
cordance with  its  laws*  which   haye   been  treated 
of  above.     How  secret  these  modes  are  has  been 
illustrated  above  by  the  operations  of  the  soul  upon 
the  body,  of  which  man  knows  so  little  as  to  amount 
to  scarcely  anything ;  as  how  the  eye  sees,  the  ear 
hears,  the  nose  smells,  the  tongue  tastes,  and  the 
skin  feels,  how  the  stomach  digests,  the  mesentery 
elaborates  the  chyle,  and  the  liver  the  blood  ;  how 
the  pancreas  and  spleen  purify  the  blood,  the  kid- 
neys  separate   it  from   impure   humors,   the    heart 
collects  and  distributes  it,  the  lungs  clarify  it ;  and 
how  the  brain  refines  the  blood  and  vivifies  it  anew ; 
besides  innumerable  other  things,  all  of  which  are 
secrets  which  scarcely  any  science   can   penetrate. 
Evidently  then  it  can  penetrate  still    less   into  the 
secret  operations  of  the  Divine  providence ;    it  is 
enough  to  know  its  laws. 

337.  The  Divine  providence   does    all  things 
out  of  pure  mercy,  because  the  Divine  essence  is 
pure  love,  and  it  is  this  that  works  by  means  of 
the  Divine  wisdom  ;  and  it  is  this  operation  that  is 
called  the  Divine    providence.     This  pure  love  is 


CHAPTER  xyui.,  N.  338  521 

pure  mercy,  for  these  reasons  :  (i.)  It  is  operative 
with  all  men  throughout  the  whole  world,  who  are 
such  that  they  have  no  ability  of  their  own.  (2.) 
It  is  equally  operative  with  the  evil  and  unjust, 
and  with  the  good  and  just.  (3.)  It  leads  the  for- 
mer in  hell  and  rescues  them  from  it.  (4. )  It  there 
perpetually  strives  with  them  and  fights  for  them 
against  the  devil,  that  is,  against  the  evils  of  hell. 
(5.)  To  this  end  it  came  into  the  world,  and  en- 
dured temptations  even  to  the  last  of  them,  which 
was  the  passion  of  the  cross.  (6. )  It  unceasingly 
acls  with  the  unclean  to  make  them  clean  and  with 
the  insane  to  make  them  sane  ;  thus  it  labors  un- 
ceasingly out  of  pure  mercy. 

338*  (iii. )  Instantaneous  salvation  from  mercy 
apart  from  means  is  impossible. — It  has  been  shown 
in  what  precedes  that  the  operation  of  the  Divine 
providence  to  save  man  begins  at  his  birth  and 
continues  until  the  end  of  his  life,  and  afterwards 
to  eternity  ;  also  that  this  operation  goes  on  unceas- 
ingly, through  means,  out  of  pure  mercy.  From 
this  it  follows  that  neither  instantaneous  salvation 
nor  mercy  apart  from  means  is  possible.  But  as 
many  who  never  think  about  matters  pertaining  to 
the  church  or  to  religion  from  the  understanding 
believe  that  they  are  saved  by  mercy  apart  from 
means,  and  therefore  that  salvation  is  instantane- 
ous ;  and  as  this  is  contrary  to  the  truth,  and  is  a 
harmful  belief,  it  is  important  that  it  should  be  con- 
sidered in  its  proper  order  :  ( i . )  The  belief  in  in- 


522  THE   <D/K/N£   'PROVIDENCE 

stantaneous  salvation  out  of  mercy  apart  from  means 
has  been  adopted  from  the  natural  state  of  man. 
(2.)  This  belief  comes  from  an  ignorance  of  the 
spiritual  state,  which  is  wholly  different  from  the 
natural  state.  (3. )  The  doclrines  of  all  the  churches 
in  the  Christian  world,  viewed  interiorly,  are  op- 
posed to  instantaneous  salvation  out  of  mercy  apart 
from  means,  but  it  is  upheld,  nevertheless,  by  the 
external  men  of  the  church. 

First  :  The  belief  in  instantaneous  salvation  out 
of  mercy  apart  from  means  has  been  adopted  from 
the  natural  state  of  man.  The  natural  man  from  his 
state  does  not  know  otherwise  than  that  heavenly  joy 
is  like  worldly  joy,  and  that  it  flows  in  and  is  received 
in  the  same  way  ;  for  example,  that  it  is  like  the  ex- 
perience of  a  poor  man  becoming  rich,  who  thus 
passes  from  the  sad  state  of  poverty  into  a  happy 
state  of  opulence  ;  or  like  one  of  low  standing  who 
becomes  honored,  and  who  thus  passes  from  disdain 
to  glory  ;  or  like  one  who  goes  from  a  house  of 
mourning  to  the  joy  of  a  wedding.  As  these  states 
may  be  changed  in  a  day,  and  man's  condition  after 
death  is  supposed  to  be  the  same,  the  source  of  the 
belief  in  instantaneous  salvation  out  of  mercy  apart 
from  means  is  evident. 

Moreover,  in  the  world,  many  may  be  together 
in  one  company  or  in  one  civil  community,  and 
may  enjoy  themselves  together,  and  yet  all  differ  in 
feeling  ;  this  occurs  in  man's  natural  state,  and  the 
reason  is  that  the  external  of  one  man  can  be  ac- 
commodated to  the  external  of  another,  however 


CHAPTER  XYIIl.,  N.  3?8  523 

unlike  their  internals  may  be.  From  this  natural 
state  another  conclusion  is  drawn,  that  salvation  is 
merely  admission  into  heaven  among  the  angels, 
and  that  this  admission  is  from  mercy  apart  from 
means.  Consequently  it  is  believed  that  heaven  can 
be  granted  to  the  evil  as  well  as  to  the  good,  and 
that  their  association  is  then  like  that  in  the  world, 
with  the  difference  that  it  is  full  of  joy. 

Secondly  :  This  belief  comes  from  an  ignorance 
of  the  spiritiial  state,  which  is  wholly  different  from 
the  natural  state.  The  spiritual  state,  that  is,  the 
state  of  man  after  death,  has  been  treated  of  above 
in  many  places  ;  and  it  has  been  shown  that  every 
one  is  his  own  love,  and  that  no  one  can  live  with 
any  except  those  who  are  in  a  like  love,  and  if 
he  comes  among  others  he  cannot  breathe  his  own 
life.  It  is  from  this  that  every  one  after  death 
comes  into  the  society  of  his  own,  that  is,  of  those 
who  are  in  a  like  love,  and  that  he  recognizes 
these  as  relatives  and  as  friends  ;  and  what  is  won- 
derful, when  he  meets  them  and  sees  them  it  is  as 
if  he  had  been  acquainted  with  them  from  infancy. 
Spiritual  relationship  and  friendship  are  the  cause 
of  this.  And  what  is  more,  no  one  in  a  society 
can  occupy  any  house  but  his  own,  each  one  in  a 
society  has  his  own  house,  and  this  he  finds  ready 
for  him  as  soon  as  he  enters  the  society.  Outside 
of  his  house  he  may  be  in  close  association  with 
others,  but  he  cannot  stay  anywhere  except  in  his 
own  house.  And  still  further,  in  another' s  apart- 
ment no  one  can  sit  any  where  except  in  his  own 


524  THE    'DIVINE    ^PROVIDENCE 

place ;  if  he  sits  elsewhere  he  loses  his  self-pos- 
session and  becomes  dumb ;  and  what  is  wonder- 
ful, whenever  one  enters  a  room  he  knows  his 
own  place.  The  same  is  true  of  places  of  worship, 
and  of  those  who  come  together  in  public  assem- 
blies. 

All  this  makes  clear  that  the  spiritual  state  is 
wholly  different  from  the  natural,  and  is  such  that 
no  one  can  be  any  where  but  where  his  ruling  love 
is,  for  there  the  delight  of  his  life  is,  and  every  one 
wishes  to  be  in  the  delight  of  his  life,  and  a  man's 
spirit  cannot  be  elsewhere  because  that  delight  is 
what  constitutes  his  life,  even  his  very  breathing 
and  the  motion  of  his  heart.  In  the  natural  world 
it  is  different.  In  this  world  man's  external  is 
thoroughly  taught  from  infancy  to  simulate  in  coun- 
tenance, word,  and  gesture,  other  delights  than 
those  that  belong  to  his  internal.  Consequently 
from  a  man's  state  in  the  natural  world  no  con- 
clusion can  be  formed  about  what  his  state  will  be 
after  death  ;  for  every  one's  state  after  death  is  a 
spiritual  state,  which  is,  that  he  can  be  nowhere 
except  in  the  delight  of  his  own  love,  which  delight 
he  acquired  by  his  life  in  the  natural  world. 

All  this  makes  clear  that  no  one  can  be  ad- 
mitted into  the  delight  of  heaven,  which  is  com- 
monly called  heavenly  joy,  who  is  in  the  delight 
of  hell ;  or  what  is  the  same,  no  one  who  is  in  the 
delight  of  evil  can  be  admitted  into  the  delight  of 
good ;  nnd  this  may  be  still  more  clearly  inferred 
from  this,  that  after  death  no  one  is  forbidden  to 


CHAPTER   XV 'III.,  N.  Jj8  525 

ascend  into  heaven ;  the  way  is  shown  him,  op- 
portunity is  given  him,  and  he  is  admitted  ;  but  as 
soon  as  he  enters  heaven  and  breathes  in  its  delight 
he  begins  to  suffer  pain  in  his  chest,  to  be  tortured 
in  his  heart,  to  feel  as  if  swooning,  under  which 
he  writhes  like  a  serpent  brought  near  the  fire; 
and  with  his  face  turned  away  from  heaven  and 
turned  towards  hell  he  flees  precipitately,  and  does 
not  rest  until  he  has  entered  the  society  belonging 
to  his  own  love.  Evidently,  therefore,  no  one  en- 
ters heaven  out  of  mercy  apart  from  means  ;  con- 
sequently mere  admittance  does  not,  as  many  in 
the  world  suppose,  amount  to  anything,  neither  is 
there  any  such  thing  as  instantaneous  salvation,  for 
this  supposes  mercy  apart  from  means. 

There  were  some  who  had  believed  in  the  world 
in  instantaneous  salvation  out  of  mercy  apart  from 
means,  and  when  they  became  spirits  they  desired 
to  have  their  infernal  delight,  or  their  delight  in 
evil,  changed  by  Divine  omnipotence  and  by  Divine 
mercy  into  heavenly  delight  or  delight  in  good. 
And  because  they  greatly  desired  this  the  angels 
were  permitted  to  do  it ;  but  as  soon  as  the  angels 
had  taken  away  their  infernal  delight,  since  it  was 
the  delight  of  their  life's  love,  consequently  of  their 
life,  they  lay  as  if  dead,  deprived  of  all  sense  and 
all  motion ;  and  it  was  impossible  to  breathe  into 
them  any  other  life  than  their  own,  because  all 
things  of  their  mind  and  body  had  been  turned 
backward  and  could  not  be  reversed.  They  wer$ 
therefore  resuscitated  by  admitting  again  the  de- 


526  THE  'DIVINE 

light  of  their  life's  love.  After  this  they  said  that 
in  that  state  they  interiorly  had  felt  something  awful 
and  horrible  which  they  did  not  care  to  divulge. 
For  this  reason  it  is  said  in  heaven  that  it  is  easier 
to  change  an  owl  into  a  turtle-dove,  or  a  serpent 
into  a  lamb,  than  any  infernal  spirit  into  an  angel 
of  heaven. 

Thirdly :  The  dotlrines  of  the  churches  in  the 
Christian  world,  viewed  interiorly,  are  opposed  to 
instantaneous  salvation  out  of  mercy  apart  from 
means ;  but  it  is  upheld,  nevertheless,  by  the  ex- 
ternal men  of  the  church.  The  doclrines  of  all 
churches,  viewed  interiorly,  teach  life.  What  church 
is  there  the  docTrine  of  which  does  not  teach  that 
man  ought  to  examine  himself,  to  see  and  ac- 
knowledge his  sins,  confess  them,  repent,  and  fin- 
ally live  a  new  life?  Who  is  admitted  to  the  Holy 
Communion  without  this  admonition  and  instruc- 
tion? Inquire  and  you  will  be  convinced.  What 
church  is  there  the  doclrine  of  which  is  not  founded 
on  the  commandments  of  the  decalogue?  and  the 
commandments  of  the  decalogue  are  the  command- 
ments of  life.  What  man  of  the  church  is  there  in 
whom  there  is  anything  of  the  church  who  does 
not  acknowledge  as  soon  as  he  hears  it  that  he  who 
lives  well  is  saved  and  he  who  lives  wickedly  is 
condemned?  Therefore  in  the  Athanasian  Creed 
(which  is  also  the  doctrine  accepted  in  the  whole 
Christian  world)  it  is  stated 

»  "That  the  Lord  will  come  to  judge  the  living  and 
the  dead  ;  and  then  those  that  have  done  good  will 


CHAPTER   XV  III.,  N.  jj8  527 


enter  into  life  eternal,  and  those  that  have  done  evil 
into  eternal  fire." 


This  shows  clearly  that  the  doctrines  of  all 
churches,  'viewed  interiorly,  teach  life ;  and  because 
they  teach  life  they  teach  that  salvation  is  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  life ;  and  the  life  of*a  man  is  not 
breathed  into  him  in  a  moment,  but  is  gradually 
formed,  and  is  reformed  by  his  shunning  evils  as 
sins ;  consequently,  by  his  learning  what  sin  is,  re- 
cognizing and  acknowledging  it,  and  not  willing  it, 
and  thus  refraining  from  it,  also  by  gaining  a  know- 
ledge of  those  means  that  have  reference  to  a 
knowledge  of  God.  By  all  these  is  man's  life 
formed  and  reformed ;  and  these  cannot  be  poured 
into  him  in  a  moment,  for  hereditary  evil,  which 
in  itself  is  infernal,  must  be  removed,  and  in  its 
place  good,  which  in  itself  is  heavenly,  must  be 
implanted.  From  his  hereditary  evil  man  may  be 
likened  in  understanding  to  an  owl  and  in  will  to 
a  serpent ;  but  when  he  has  been  reformed  he  may 
be  likened  in  understanding  to  a  dove  and  in  will 
to  a  sheep.  Therefore  instantaneous  reformation 
and  salvation  thereby  would  be  comparatively  like 
the  instantaneous  conversion  of  an  owl  into  a  dove, 
and  of  a  serpent  into  a  sheep.  Who  that  has  any 
knowledge  of  human  life  does  not  see  that  this  is 
impossible,  except  by  the  removal  of  the  owl  and 
serpent  nature  and  the  implantation  in  its  place  of 
the  dove  and  sheep  nature? 

It  is  also  acknowledged  that  every  one  who  is 


528  THE  DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

intelligent  can  become  more  intelligent,  and  every 
one  who  is  a  wise  man  can  become  wiser,  and  that 
intelligence  and  wisdom  may  grow  in  man,  and 
with  some  do  grow,  from  infancy  until  the  end  of 
life,  and  that  man  is  thus  perfected  continually.  Is 
this  not  still  more  true  of  spiritual  intelligence  and 
wisdom?  These  ascend  above  natural  intelligence 
and  wisdom  by  two  degrees,  and  as  they  ascend 
they  become  angelic  intelligence  and  wisdom,  which 
are  ineffable.  That  these  increase  to  eternity  with 
the  angels  has  been  stated  above.  Cannot  any  one 
who  is  willing  understand  that  it  is  impossible  for 
that  which  is  perfecting  to  eternity  to  be  made  per- 
fect in  an  instant? 

339.  From  all  this  it  is  clear  that  no  one  who 
thinks  of  salvation  from  life  thinks  of  any  instant- 
aneous salvation  out  of  mercy  apart  from  means ; 
but  he  thinks  about  the  means  of  salvation  into 
which  and  through  which  the  Lord  operates  in 
accordance  with  the  laws  of  His  Divine  providence, 
and  by  which,  therefore,  man  is  led  by  the  Lord 
out  of  pure  mercy.  But  those  who  do  not  think 
of  salvation  from  life  ascribe  instantaneousness  to 
salvation  and  absence  of  means  to  mercy,  as  those 
do  who  separate  faith  from  charity  (for  charity  is 
life)  ;  they  also  ascribe  instantaneousness  to  faith 
at  the  closing  hour  of  death,  if  not  before.  Those 
also  do  this  who  believe  remission  of  sins  without 
repentance  to  be  an  absolution  from  sins  and  thus 
salvation,  and  who  go  to  the  Holy  Supper;  also 
those  that  have  faith  in  the  indulgences  of  the 


CHAPTER   XV11L,  N.  340  529 

monks  and  in  their  prayers  for  the  dead  and  in  the 
dispensations  the}-  grant  because  of  the  power  they 
claim  over  the  souls  of  men. 

340.  (iv.)  Instantaneous  salvation  out  of  mercy 
apart  from  means  is  the  "  fiery  flying  serpent"  in 
the  church. — By  the  "fiery  flying  serpent"  evil 
glowing  from  infernal  fire  is  meant,  the  same  as  by 
the  "fiery  flying  serpent"  spoken  of  in  Isaiah: 

"Rejoice  not  thou,  Philistia,  all  of  thee,  because  the  rod 
that  smote  thee  is  broken  ;  for  out  of  the  serpent's 
root  shall  go  forth  a  basilisk,  whose  fruit  shall  be  a 
fiery  flying  serpent  "  (xiv.  29). 

Such  evil  is  flying  abroad  in  the  church  when  there 
is  belief  in  instantaneous  salvation  out  of  mercy 
apart  from  means;  for  thereby:  (i.)  Religion  is 
abolished.  (2.)  A  security  is  induced.  (3.)  Dam- 
nation is  attributed  to  the  Lord. 

As  to  the  first :  Religion  is  abolished  thereby. 
There  are  two  things  that  are  at  once  the  essentials 
and  the  universals  of  religion,  namely,  acknowledg- 
ment of  God  and  repentance.  These  two  are  void 
of  meaning  to  those  who  believe  that  men  are  saved 
out  of  mere  mercy,  howsoever  they  live ;  for  what 
need  is  there  more  than  to  say,  "  Have  mercy  on 
me,  O  God?"  About  all  other  things  belonging  to 
religion  they  are  in  thick  darkness,  and  they  even 
love  the  darkness.  Of  the  first  essential  of  the 
church,  which  is  acknowledgment  of  God,  they 
merely  think,  "What  is  God?  Who  has  seen  Him?" 
If  it  is  said  that  God  exists  and  that  He  is  one, 


530  THE   'DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

they  admit  that  He  is  one  ;  if  it  is  said  that  there 
are  three,  they  admit  that  there  are,  but  claim  that 
the  three  must  be  called  one.  This  is  their  ac- 
knowledgment of  God. 

To  the  other  essential  of  the  church,  which  is 
repentance,  they  give  no  thought,  consequently  they 
give  no  thought  to  any  sin,  and  at  last  they  do  not 
know  that  there  is  any  such  thing  as  sin.  And 
then  they  hear,  and  drink  in  with  pleasure,  that 
"  The  law  does  not  condemn,  because  the  Christian 
is  not  under  its  yoke  ;  you  have  merely  to  say, 
'  God  have  mercy  upon  me  for  the  sake  of  the 
Son,'  and  you  will  be  saved."  This  with  them  is 
repentance  of  life.  But  take  away  repentance,  or 
what  is  the  same  thing,  separate  life  from  religion, 
and  what  is  left  but  the  mere  words,  ' '  Have  mercy 
upon  me?"  For  this  reason  they  could  not  do 
otherwise  than  claim  that  salvation  is  instantaneous 
through  the  mere  utterance  of  these  words,  even 
near  the  hour  of  death  if  not  before.  What,  then, 
is  the  Word  to  them  but  an  obscure  and  enigmat- 
ical voice  uttered  from  a  tripod  in  a  cave,  or  an 
unintelligible  response  from  the  oracle  of  an  idol  ? 
In  a  word,  when  you  take  away  repentance,  that  is, 
separate  life  from  religion,  what  is  man  but  evil 
glowing  with  infernal  fire,  or  a  "  fiery  flying  ser- 
pent ' '  in  the  church  ?  For  without  repentance  man 
is  in  evil,  and  evil  is  hell. 

Secondly  :  A  belief  in  instantaneous  salvation 
out  of  pure  mercy  alone  induces  a  security  of  life. 
Security  of  life  arises  either  from  the  impious  man's 


CHAPTER   XVHL,  N.  340  531 

belief  that  there  is  no  life  after  death,  or  from  the 
belief  of  him  who  separates  life  from  salvation.  The 
latter,  although  believing  in  eternal  life,  still  thinks, 
"Whether  I  live  well  or  ill  I  can  be  saved,  since 
salvation  is  pure  mercy,  and  God's  mercy  is  uni- 
versal because  He  desires  not  the  death  of  any  one. ' ' 
And  if  perchance  the  thought  occurs  that  mercy 
ought  to  be  implored  in  the  words  of  the  accepted 
faith,  he  may  think  that  this,  if  not  done  previously, 
can  be  done  just  before  death.  Any  man  in  such 
a  state  of  security  makes  nothing  of  adulteries, 
frauds,  injustice,  violence,  defamation,  and  revenge, 
but  lets  his  flesh  and  his  spirit  run  riot  in  them  all  ; 
nor  does  he  know  what  spiritual  evil  and  its  lust 
are.  If  he  listens  to  anything  about  this  from  the 
Word  it  is  comparatively  like  something  striking 
against  ebony  and  rebounding,  or  like  what  falls 
into  a  ditch  and  is  swallowed  up. 

Thirdly :  By  that  belief  damnation  is  attributed 
to  the  Lord.  Who  can  help  concluding  that  not 
man  but  the  Lord  is  to  blame  if  man  is  not  saved 
when  the  Lord  is  able  to  save  every  one  out  of 
pure  mercy  ?  It  may  be  said  that  faith  is  the  means 
of  salvation  ;  but  what  man  is  there  to  whom  that 
faith  cannot  be  given?  For  it  is  nothing  but  a 
thought  that  may  be  imparted,  even  with  confid- 
ence, in  any  state  of  the  spirit  withdrawn  from 
worldly  things.  It  may  also  be  claimed  that  man 
cannot  of  himself  acquire  that  faith  ;  if,  therefore,  it 
is  not  given  and  the  man  is  damned,  must  not  he 
that  is  damned  think  that  the  Lord,  who  had  the 


532  THE  THVINE   T^ROl/IDEMCE 

power  to  save  and  would  not,  is  to  blame  ?  And 
would  not  this  be  to  call  Him  unmerciful  ?  More- 
over, in  the  glow  of  his  faith  he  would  say,  "  How 
can  He  see  so  many  damned  in  hell  when  He 
is  able  out  of  pure  mercy  to  save  them  all  in  a  mo- 
ment?" Other  like  things  he  may  say  that  must 
be  called  abominable  accusations  against  the  Divine. 
From  all  this  it  can  now  be  seen  that  a  belief  in 
instantaneous  salvation  out  of  pure  mercy  is  the 
"  fiery  flying  serpent "  in  the  church. 


Excuse  the  addition  of  what  follows  to  fill  out 
the  rest  of  the  sheet. 

Certain  spirits  by  permission  ascended  from  hell, 
and  said  to  me,  "You  have  written  many  things  from 
the  Lord;  write  something  from  us,  too." 

I  replied,  "  What  shall  I  write?" 

They  said,  "  Write  that  every  spirit,  whether  good 
or  evil,  is  in  his  own  delight;  a  good  spirit  in  the  de- 
light of  his  good,  and  an  evil  spirit  in  the  delight  of 
his  evil." 

I  asked,  "What  is  your  delight?" 

They  said,"  It  is  a  delight  in  committing  adultery, 
stealing,  cheating,  and  lying." 

Again  I  asked,  "  What  sort  of  delights  are  these?" 

They  said,  "To  the  senses  of  others  they  are  like 
the  fetid  smell  from  excrement,  the  putrid  smell  from 
dead  bodies,  and  the  odor  from  stagnant  urine." 

I  said,  "Are  these  things  delightful  to  you  ?" 

They  answered,  "  Most  delightful." 

I  said,  "  Then  you  are  like  the  unclean  beasts  that 
live  in  such  things." 


CHAPTER  XVIII.,  N.  340  533 

They  replied,  "  If  we  are  we  are;   but  such  things 
are  delicious  to  our  nostrils." 

I  asked,  "  What  more  shall  I  write  from  you  ?" 
They  said,  "  Write  this  :  that  every  one  is  permitted 
to  be  in  his  own  delight,  even  that  which  is  most  un- 
clean, as  they  call  it,  provided  he  does  not  infest  good 
spirits  and  angels ;  but  as  we  could  not  do  otherwise 
than  infest  them  we  were  driven  away  and  cast  into 
hell,  where  we  suffer  dreadful  things." 
I  said,  "  Why  did  you  infest  the  good  ?" 
They  replied   that   they  could    not  do  otherwise, 
that  a  sort  of  fury  came  upon  them  when  they  saw 
any  angel  and  felt  the  Divine  sphere  around  him. 
Then  I  said,  "  You  are  even  like  wild  beasts." 
When  they  heard  this  a  fury  came  upon  them  that 
seemed  like  the  fire  of  hatred  ;   and  to  prevent  their 
doing  harm  they  were  withdrawn  into  hell. 


Of  delights  perceived  as  odors  and  as  foul  smells 
in  the  spiritual  world  see  above  (n.  303-305). 


INDEX    OF    PRINCIPAL    WORDS    AND    SUBJECTS 

The  small  figures  in  brackets  refer  to  subdivisions  of  paragraphs. 


AARON,  although  he  made  the  golden  calf  and  commanded  the  worship  of  it, 
could  represent  the  Lord  and  His  salvation  (n.  132). 

ABEL  means  love  and  charity  (n.  242).    (See  CAIN.) 

ABODE. — The  Lord  can  have  an  abode  in  man  or  angel  and  dwell  with  them 
only  in  His  own,  and  not  in  what  is  their  own  (proprium).  for  that  is 
evil  (n.  53). 

ABOMINATE  (TO).— So  far  as  one  shuns  evils  as  diabolical  and  as  obstacles  to  the 
Lord's  entrance  he  is  more  and  more  nearly  conjoined  with  the  Lord, 
and  he  the  most  nearly  who  abominates  them  as  so  many  dusky  and 
fiery  devils  (n.  33[3]). 

ABSTRACT.— The  finite  can  comprehend  (the  infinite)  because  there  are  abstract 
ideas  by  means  of  which  the  existence  of  things  can  be  seen,  if  not  the 
nature  of  them  (n.  46). 

ABUSE.— It  is  by  the  abuse  of  these  powers  (liberty  and  rationality)  that  man 
can  seem  in  externals  to  be  different  from  what  he  is  in  internals  (n.  15). 
Man  has  the  ability  to  misuse  these  faculties,  and  from  freedom  in 
accordance  with  reason  to  confirm  whatever  he  pleases  (n.  286). 

ACCIDENTAL  and  CASUAL  are  idle  words  (n.  70[i]). 

ACKNOWLEDGE.— Nothing  can  be  acknowledged  except  by  consent  of  the  will 

(n.  231[2]).    Every  one  acknowledges  God  and  is  conjoined  with  Him  so 

far  as  his  life  is" good  (n.  325[2],  32616]).    All  who  lead  an  evil  life  in- 

.     teriorly   acknowledge    nature   and   human    prudence   alone   (n.    205). 

Those  who  acknowledge  God  and   His  Divine  providence  are  like  the 

angels  of  heaven But  those  who  acknowledge  nature  and  their 

own  prudence  are  like  spirits  of  hell  (n.  208).    He  who  does  not  acknow- 
ledge God  cannot  be  saved  (n.  91fs]). 

ACKNOWLEDGMENT  OF  GOD.— There  can  be  an  acknowledgment  of  the  Lord 
from  wisdom,  and  there  can  be  an  acknowledgment  of  the  Lord  from 
love.  Acknowledgment  of  the  Lord  from  wisdom  is  effected  by 
doctrine;  while  acknowledgment  of  the  Lord  from  love  is  effected  by  a 
life  in  accordance  with  doctrine.  This  produces  conjunction,  the 
other,  presence  (n.  91[2]).  The  acknowledgment  of  God  causes  a  con- 
junction of  God  with  man  and  of  man  with  God,  and  the  denial  of 
God  causes  severance  (n.  326[i]). 

ACTING  from  an  enjovment  of  love  is  acting  from  freedom,  and  since 
reason  favors  the  love  this  is  also  acting  in  accordance  with  reason 
(n.  85). 

ACTORS.— Of  some  who  do  not  believe  in  the  Divine  at  all,  but  pla}"  with 
Divine  things  outwardly  like  actors  (n.  222[2]). 

ADAM.— By  Adam  and  his  wife  the  first  men  that  were  created  on  this  earth 
are  not  meant,  but  the  men  of  the  Most  Ancient  Church,  and  their  new 
creation  or  their  regeneration  is  thus  described  (n.  242,  313fi],  3281;]). 
The  state  of  innocence  in  which  Adam  and  Eve  his  wife  were  (n.  275). 
Hereditary  evil. . .  .is  said  to  be  from  Adam  and  his  wife,  but  this  is  an 
error,  for  every  one  is  born  into  it  from  his  parents  (n.  ZTTTil.  M8f7l)- 
Adam's  condemnation  signifies  the  condemnation  of  the  intellectual 
self  tproprhtm)  in.  313^1). '  <Sfe  also  n.  236,  251.  328.) 
ADMISSION  INTO  HKAtEN.— No  one  enters  heaven  out  of  mercy  apart  from 


INDEX  535 

means,  consequently  mere  admittance  does  not  amount  to  anything 
(n.  338[6]).  After  death  no  one  is  forbidden  to  ascend  into  heaven ;  the 
way  is  shown  him,  opportunity  is  given  him,  and  he  is  admitted 
(n.  338[61). 

ADULT  (see  MATURE  MAN). 

ADULTERATION  OF  GOOD.— He  that  upholds  evil  loves  does  violence  to  Divine 
goods,  and  this  violence  is  called  adulteration  of  good  (n.  231[3J). 

ADULTERY,  its  horrible  nature.  The  love  of  adultery  communicates  with  the 
lowest  hell  (n.  144[s]). 

AFFECTION.— Every  affection,  which  in  i*  essence  is  a  subordinate  love 

derived  from  the  life's  love,  as^a  stream  from  its  fountain, has  its 

delights  (n.  195[i]).  They  are  derivations  from  the  life's  love  of  every 
one~(n.  28(3]).  No  one  can  perceive  or  think  anything  apart  from 
affection,  and  every  one  perceives  and  thinks  according  to  affection 
(n.  28[4l,  106).  The  affections  of  a  man's  life's  love  are  known  to  the 
Lord  alone  (n.  197).  By  means  of  His  Divine  providence  the  Lord  leads 
the  affections  of  a  man's  life's  love  (n.  200).  By  means  of  His  Divine 
providence  the  Lord  combines  the  affections  of  the  whole  human  race 
into  one  form,  which  is  the  human  form  (n.  201).  Every  affection  for 
good  and  at  the  same  time  for  truth  is  in  its  form  a  man  (n.  66). 
External  affections  of  thought  manifest  themselves  in  bodily  sensation, 
and  rarely  in  the  thought  of  the  mind.  The  internal  affections  of 
thought  from  which  the  external  affections  have  their  existence,  never 
in  any  way  manifest  themselves  before  man  (n.  199[2]).  Interior  affec- 
tions (join  to  themselves)  mates  called  perceptions,  and  the  exterior 
affections  mates  called  thoughts  (n.  194).  Every  affection  has  its  mate, 
which  is  like  a  spouse,  affection  from  natural  love  has  knowledge, 
affection  from  spiritual  love  understanding,  and  affection  from  celestial 
love  wisdom  (n.  74[2]).  In  beasts  there  is  a  marriage  of  affection  and 
knowledge,  the  affection  in  them  pertaining  to  natural  good,  and  know- 
ledge to  natural  truth  (n.  74[2]).  With  man  it  is  otherwise.  He  has  not 
only  affection  from  natural  love,  but  also  affection  from  spiritual  love, 
and  affection  from  celestial  love  (n.  75[i]).  It  is  an  affection  from  the 
love  of  good  that  makes  heaven  in  man  (n.  63).  The  derivatives  of  this 
love  (of  evil),  which  are  its  affections,  are  as  many  as  are  the  evils  into 
which  it  has  determined  itself  (n.  33). 

AFFECTION  AND  THOUGHT.— All  affection  is  in  heat,  and  thought  is  in  light 
(n.  199[iJ).  Every  particular  affection  has  its  delight,  and  every  partic- 
ular perception  and  thought  therefrom  has  its  enjoyment  (n.  195[i]). 
No  affection  is  possible  apart  from  its  thought  nor  any  thought  apart 
'  from  its  affection  (n.  194,  196).  The  affections  of  heaven  and  the  lusts 
of  hell  are  immediately  opposed  to  each  other  (n.  303).  Affection  cor- 
responds to  sound  and  thought  to  speech  (n.  296[6]).  As  the  sound  of 
the  voice  with  the  spoken  words  spreads  itself  all  about  in  the'air  of  the 
natural  world,  so  affection  and  thought  spreads  itself  into  societies  in 
the  spiritual  world  (n.  296[6]).  Affections  associated  with  perceptions 
constitute  man's  internal,  and  the  enjoyments  of  affections  associated 
with  thoughts  constitute  his  external  (n.  106).  By  means  of  His  Divine 
providence  the  Lord  leads  the  affections  of  a  man's  life's  love,  and 
at  the  same  time  leads  his  thoughts,  from  which  human  prudence 
is  derived  (n.  200).  Affections  and  thoughts  exist  in  substantive 
subjects  (n.  279{6]).  Affections,  which  belong  to  the  will,  are  nothing 
but  changes  and  variations  of  state  of  the  purely  organic  substances  of 
the  mind,  and  thoughts,  which  belong  to  the  understanding,  are 
nothing  but  changes  and  variations  in  the  form  of  these  substances 
(n.  279[i]).  The  organic  forms  of  the  mind  are  the  subjects  of  man's 
affections  and  thoughts  (n.  319[2]).  Affection  and  the  thought  from  it 
are  not  in  space  and  time  (n.  50[2]). 

AFRICANS  (THE)  believe  more  than  others  that  their  dead  are  human  beings  in 
the  other  life  (n.  274[8]). 


536  THE  THVINE   'PROVIDENCE 

AGE.— All  that  have  lived  well,  when  they  eater  heaven  come  into  an  age  like 
that  of  early  manhood  in  the  world,  and  continue  in  it  to  eternity,  even 
those  that  had  been  old  and  decrepit  in  the  world.  Women  also, 
although  they  had  been  old  and  wrinkled,  return  into  the  flower  of 
their  age  and  beauty  (n.  324J.4]). 

AGES.— The  four  churches— the  Most  Ancient,  the  Ancient,  the  Hebraic,  and 
that  of  Israel  and  Judah— are  meant  by  the  golden,  the  silver,  the 
brazen,  and  the  iron  ages  mentione  d  by  ancient  writers  (n.  328[3j). 

AGREEMENT  is  equivalent  to  doing  the  thing  (n.  11112]). 

ALLOWABLE.— Whatever  is  made  allowable  in  the  thought  comes  from  the  will, 
for  there  is  then  consent  (n.  81). ,  When  a  man  believes  any  evil  to  be 
allowable  he  continually  does  it  in  his  spirit  (n.  81,  278UJ).  Man  must 
examine  himself,  not  his  deeds  alone  but  his  thoughts,  especially  what 
evils  he  regards  in  his  spirit  as  allowable  (n.  278i.iJ).  Such  evils  as  a 
man  believes  to  be  allowable,  even  though  he  does  not  do  them,  are 
appropriated  to  him  (n.  81). 

ALPHABET.— In  the  spiritual  world  each  letter  in  its  alphabet  signifies  a  single 
thing,  and  the  several  letters  joined  into  a  single  word  or  making  a 
person's  name  involve  the  entire  state  of  the  thing  (n.  230[i]). 

AMBASSADOR  disputing  with  two  priests  about  human  prudence,  whether  it  is 
from  God  or  from  man  (n.  19712]). 

AMERICA.— Gentilism  exists  in  Asia,  in  the  Indies,  in  Africa  and  America 
(n.  330[7]). 

AMMONITES  (THE).— Each  nation  with  which  the  children  of  Israel  waged  war 
signified  some  particular  kind  of  evil  (n.  251[3]). 

AMORITES  (THE)  (as  above,  n.  251[s]). 

ANABAPTISTS  named  amongst  heresies  (n.  259,  238). 

ANALYTICALLY.— Whence  man's  power  to  think  analytically  (n.  317). 

ANATOMICAL  DETAILS  (n.  164,  165,  174,  180,  181,  199,  279,  296,  319,  336). 

ANCIENT  CHURCH  (THE),  is  depicted  (in  the  Word)  by  Noah  and  his  three  sons 
and  by  their  posterity  (n.  328[2]). 

ANGELS.— Love  and  wisdom  constitute  the  life  of  aneels  (n.  28[i]).  Angels 
confess  that  they  live  from  the  Lord  (n.  28[i],  158).  Angels  and  spirits 
are  affections  that  belong  to  love,  and  thoughts  from  affection  (n.  50[i], 
300,  301).  All  angels  turn  their  faces  to  the  Lord  (n.  29[2]).  Angels  do 
not  from  themselves  turn  their  laces  to  the  Lord,  but  the  Lord  turns 
them  to  Himself  (n.  29[2]).  To  their  siirht  the  Lord  is  above  in  the  sun 
there  (n.  31).  The  angels  of  the  third  heaven  perceive  the  influx  of 
Divine  love  and  Divine  wisdom  from  the  Lord  (n.  158).  Sometimes  the 
Lord  so  fills  an  angel  with  His  Divine  that  the  angel  does  not  know  that 
he  is  not  the  Lord  (n.  96[6]).  No  one  becomes  an'ansrel.  that  is,  comes 
into  heaven,  unless  he  carries  with  him  from  the  world  what  is  angelic 
(n.  60). 

ANSWERS  BY  INFLUX,  what  results  from  it  (n.  321[sl). 

ANTIPATHY.— Aversion  and  separation  between  heaven  and  hell  fn.  303). 

ANTIPODES.— Heaven  and  hell  are  diametrically  opposite,  as  antipodes  (n.  300). 

AORTA  (n.  296[i4l). 

APPEAR  (TO).— Whatever  one  does  from  freedom,  whether  it  be  of  reason  or 
not,  provided  it  is  in  accordance  with  his  reason,  appears  to  him  to  be 
his  (n.  76[6],  73[2l).  Sometimes,  when  in  deep  meditation,  a  man 
appears  in  his  society  in  the  spiritual  world  to.  296F6]).  The  Lord 
appears  to  angels  at  a  distance  like  a  sun;  the  reason  (n.  162). 

APPEARANCES.— Every  appearance  confirmed  as  a  truth  is  converted  into  a 
fallacy  to.  220T6],  310).  When  a  man  confirms  appearances  it  is  the  same 
as  asserting  that  the  clothes  are  the  man  (n.  220[6]).  They  who  confirm 
themselves  in  appearances  become  natural  (n.  ISTfcl).  Every  man  is 
permitted  to  speak  from  appearance,  nor  can  he  do  otherwise  (n.  166r2]). 
Aneels  of  the  higher  heavens  while  they  speak  from  appearance  think 
from  the  truth  (n.  162[2]).  To  the  angels  there  is  an  appearance  of 
space  and  time  in  accord  with  their  states  of  affections  and  thoughts 


INDEX  537 

therefrom  (n.  50fiJ).  In  the  spiritual  world  the  spaces  are  merely  appear- 
ances (n.  29[i]).  Why  man  is  kept  fully  in  the  appearance  that  he 
thinks,  wills,  speaks,  and  acts  from  himself  (n.  324[ij).  Appearances 
and  fallacies  (n.  213). 

APPROPRIATE  (TO).— The  Divine  providence  appropriates  neither  evil  nor  good 
to  any  one,  but  man's  own  prudence  appropriates  both  (n.  308).  What- 
ever a  man  thinks,  says,  and  does  from  his  will,  whether  good  or  evil,  is 
appropriated  to  him  and  remains  (n.  226).  Whatever  a  man  does  from 
freedom  in  accordance  with  his  thought  is  appropriated  to  him  as  his, 
and  remains  (n.  78).  Nothing  that  a  man  merely  thinks,  nor  even  that 
which  he  thinks  to  will,  is  appropriated  to  him,  unless  at  the  same  time 
he  so  far  wills  it  as  to  do  it  if  opportunity  offers  (n.  80).  Such  evils  as  a 
man  believes  to  be  allowable,  even  though  he  does  not  do  them,  are 
appropriated  to  him  (n.  81).  Nothing  that  a  man  has  appropriated  to 
himself  can  be  eradicated;  for  it  has  come  to  be  of  his  love  and  at  the 
same  time  of  his  reason,  and  consequently  of  his  life  (n.  79[ij).  If  man 
believed,  as  is  the  truth,  that  all  good  and  truth  are  from  the  Lord  and 
all  evil  and  falsity  from  hell,  he  would  not  appropriate  good  to  himself 
and  make  it  meritorious,  nor  appropriate  evil  to  himself  and  make 
himself  guilty  of  it  (n.  320[ i ]).  Goods  are  appropriated  to  man  only  in 
the  sense  that  they  are  always  the  Lord's  in  man  (n.  79[3]). 

APPROPRIATION  of  good  and  evil  (n.  78-81,  320,  321).  All  things  that  a  man 
thinks,  says,  and  does  from  the  will  are  appropriated  to  him  and  remain 
(11.  227[3l). 

ARABIA  was  one  of  the  countries  where  the  Ancient  Church  existed  and  in 
which  the  Ancient  Word  was  known  (n.  328[2]). 

ARCANA.— The  arcana  of  heaven  are  innumerable,  with  scarcely  one  of  which 
man  is  acquainted  (n.  254f i ]).  Man  possesses  the  ability  to  understand 
the  secrets  of  wisdom  like  the  angels  themselves  (n.  223).  Devils  and 
satans  understand  the  arcana  of  wisdom  as  well  as  the  angels,  but  only 
while  they  heard  them  from  others  (n.  99).  Arcana  of  angelic  wisdom 
cannot  be  comprehended  by  man  unless  his  spiritual  mind  has  been 
opened  (n.  164).  Angelic  arcana  (n.  4,  124,  125,  163,  164,  254).  The 
arcanum  of  arcana  of  angelic  wisdom  (n.  172|61). 

ARGUMENTS.— Ordinary  arguments  against  the  Divine  providence  (n.  236-239) ; 
refuted  (n.  241-274). 

ARIANISM,  its  origin  (n.  262).  It  reigns  in  the  hearts  of  more  people  than  is 
imagined  (n.  2627. 

ARIANS,  their  final  condition  in  the  other  life  (n.  231[61;  see  also  n.  257T4]). 

ARK  (THE),  because  of  its  containing  the  decalogue,  was  the  holiest  thing  of  the 
(Israelitish)  church  (n.  326fi2l). 

ARRANGEMENT  (THE),  of  affections  in  heaven  and  of  lusts  in  hell  is  wonderful, 
and  is  known  to  the  Lord  alone  (n.  302). 

ARROGATE. — To  declare  that  one  can  open  and  close  heaven,  remit  and  retain 
sins,  and  therefore  save  and  condemn  men  is  to  arrogate  to  one's  self 
Divine  power  (n.  257[i]). 

ARTERIES  (n.  996[i4]). 

AS  IF  BY  HIMSELF  (n.  164[5l). 

As  IF  FROM  HIMSELF  (n.  76,  88[2],  90,  92[2],  95,  96[2],  210,  321). 

AS  IF  IN   HIMSELF   (n.  54). 
AS  IF  OF  HIMSELF  (n.  102). 

ASSYRIA  signifies  the  profanation  of  what  is  holy  (n.  251[3l).    Assyria  was  one  of 

the  countries  where  the  Ancient  Church  existed,  and   in   which  the 

Ancient  Word  was  known  (n.  328). 
ATHANASIAN  CREED  (n.  27,  202[>],  258[4],  262,  338[8]). 
ATOANASIUS  himself  could  not  think  otherwise  than  that  three  persons  are 

three  Gods  when  each  person  by  Himself  is  God  (n.  262[i]).    The  Faith 

that  takes  its  name  from  Athanasius  (n.  127). 
ATHEISTS.— Those  who  attribute  all  things  to  nature  and  nothing  to  the  Divine, 

and  who  have  made  this  to  be  their  belief  by  reasonings  from  things 


538  THE  "DIVINE  TROYIDENCh 

visible,  are  atheists  (n.  98(4]).  Those  who  confirm  in  themselves  the 
appearance  apart  from  the  truth  become  worshipers  of  nature  and 
thus  atheists  (n.  154[2]).  Atheists  who  have  become  devils  and  satans 
can  understand  the  arcana  of  wisdom  as  well  as  angels,  but  only  while 
they  hear  them  from  others  (n.  99). 

ATMOSPHERE.— The  delight  of  the  affections  of  their  life's  love  encompasses 
every  one  as  his  atmosphere  (n.  196). 

AVARICE  is  the  root  of  evils  (n.  220[iij.) 

BABEL,       )  mentioned  in  many  places  in  the  Word,  means  the  profanation  of 

BABYLON,  $  good  in  such  as  attribute  to  themselves  what  is  Divine  (n.  231(5]). 
Those  who  claim  for  themselves  Divine,  power  and  who  wish  to  be 
worshiped  as  gods,  declare  that  they  can  open  and  close  heaven,  remit 
and  retain  sins,  and  therefore  save  and  condemn  men,  are  described  in 
the  Apocalypse  and  the  prophets  by  "  Babylon  "  (n.  257).  Not  long  after 
the  establishment  of  the  church  it  was  turned  into  a  Babylon,  and  after 
wards  into  a  Philistia;  and  while  Babylon  acknowledges  the  Word  it 
nevertheless  despises  it,  claiming  that  they  are  inspired  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  their  supreme  judgment  just  as  much  as  the  prophets  were 
(n.  264| 2]). 

BACK.— To  see  the  Divine  providence  in  the  back  and  not  in  the  face  is  to  see  it 
after  it  occurs  and  not  before  (n.  187[i]). 

BAPTISM.— Baptizing  saves  none  except  those  that  are  also  spiritually  washed, 
that  is,  regenerated;  for  baptism  is  for  a  sign  and  a  memorial  of  this 
(n.  330[5]).  (See  To  REGENERATE). 

BASEMENT.— iliose  who  are  in  their  prudence  own  are  like  those  who  live  in 
the  basement  of  a  house,  and  through  their  windows  see  only  what  is 
below  the  level  of  the  ground  (n.  311[s]). 

BASILISK  (n.  296[2]). 

BATS  see  light  as  darkness  and  darkness  as  light  (n.  318[s]). 

BEASTS.— Difference  between  their  faculties  and  those  of  men  (n.  74,  96). 
Natural  affection,  which  in  itself  is  desire,  with  its  mate  knowledge,  is 
alone  what  leads  and  moves  beasts  to  do  what  they  do  (n.  96f4]).  How 
man  is  differentiated  from  the  beasts  (n.  16).  From  the  abuse  of  ration- 
ality and  liberty  men  become  worse  than  beasts  (n.  75[2]).  He  whr, 
believes  that  ever5rthing  that  he  thinks  and  does  is  from  himself  is  not 
unlike  a  beast  (n.  321[2l).  Such  a  man  knows  rib  difference  between  a 
man  and  a  beast  except  that  a  man  talks  and  a  beast  makes  sounds, 
and  he  believes  that  both  die  in  the  same  manner  (n.  321[2]).  Difference 
between  a  beast  and  a  man  who  has  become  a  beast  (n.  276)  In  beasts 
there  is  only  one  degree  of  life,  which  is  like  the  lowest  degree  in  man 
(n.  324fil). 

BEATITUDES.— The  happinesses  of  heaven  cannot  be  described  in  words,  though 
in  heaven  they  are  perceptible  to  the  feeling  (n.  39). 

BEAUTIFUL.— The  true  in  the  sight  of  the  eye  is  that  which  is  called  beautiful 
(n.  312fi]). 

BELIEF.— In  the  spiritual  world  it  is  not  asked  what  your  belief  or  what  your 
doctrine  has  been,  but  what  your  life  has  been  (n.  lOlfe]). 

BIRD,  its  instincts  (n.  317).  Birds  of  night  see  light  as  darkness  and  darkness  as 
light  (n.  318[31). 

BLAME.— If  man  knows  an  evil  and  does  not  shun  it  the  blame  is  imputed  to 
him,  and  he  becomes  guilty  of  that  evil  (n.  294(4]).  If  everything  that  a 
man  thinks  flows  into  him  from  others  the  blame  would  seem  to  rest  on 
those  from  whom  it  comes;  and  yet  the  blame  itself  rests  on  him  who 
receives,  for  he  receives  it  as  his  (n.  294(2]).  Man  himself  is  to  blame  if 
he  is  not  saved  (n.  327). 

BLESSINGS. — When  honors  and  possessions  are  blessings  and  when  curses 
(n.  217[i-6]). 

BLIJTDNESS.— Why  those  who  are  in  a  state  of  blindness  of  the  understanding 


INDEX  539 

cannot  be  reformed  (n.  144).  Blindness  from  a  misunderstanding  of 
Rom.  iii.  28  (n.  115). 

BLOOD  signifies  Divine  truth  (n.  231f9]).  "Bloods,"  in  the  Word,  signify  the 
violence  called  the  falsification  of  truth,  and  that  called  the  adulteration 
of  good  (n.  231[3P 

BODY  (THE).— At  first  man  puts  on  the  grosser  things  of  nature;  these  constitute 
his  body;  but  by  death  he  puts  these  off  and  retains  the  purer  things  of 
nature  Which  are  nearest  to  spiritual  things  (n.  220[2l).  When  the  body 
is  sick  the  mind  is  also  sick  (n.  142[i]).  In  the  whole  body  and  in  every 
part  there  are  both  externals  and  internals;  the  externals  are  called 
skins,  membranes  and  sheaths ;  the  internals  are  forms  variously  com- 
posed and  interwoven  of  nerve  fibers  and  blood  vessels  (n.  180(2]).  The 
body  is  obedience  (n.  124[2]). 

BONES  (THE).— The  Divine  Man  (that  is,  heaven)  is  a  man  in  complete  form,  not 
only  in  respect  to  external  members  and  organs,  but  also  in  respect  to 
internal  members  and  organs,  which  are  many,  and  even  with  respect 
to  the  skins,  membranes,  cartilages,  and  bones  (n.  254[sl).  It  has  been 
provided  by  the  Lord  that  those  who  could  not  be  reached  by  the  Gospel, 
but  only  by  a  religion,  should  also  be  able  to  have  a  place  in  that  Divine 
Man,  that  is,  heaven,  constituting  those  parts  that  are  called  skins, 
membranes,  cartilages  and  bones  (n.  254f3]). 

BORN  (TO  BE).— Why  man  is  born  into  the  outmost  of  life  which  is  called  the 
corporeal-sensual,  and  consequently  into  the  thick  darkness  of  ignor- 
ance (n.  276| i]).  Into  the  external  of  life  every  infant  is  born,  and 
consequently  is  loveable;  but  as  the  child  grows  to  boyhood  or  to  youth 
he  passes  from  that  external  to  what  is  interior,  and  finally  to  the  ruling 
love  of  his  father  (n.  277a[4l).  Man,  by  inheritance  from  his  parents,  is 
born  into  the  love  of  self  and  love  of  the  world,  and  from  tliese  as  fount- 
ains, into  evils  of  every  kind  (n.  83[i]).  If  man  were  born  into  the  love  into 
which  h»»  was  created  he  would  not  be  in  any  evil,  nor  would  he  even 
know  what  evil  is  (n.275).  No  one  can  come  into  the  kingdom  of  Go*1 
unless  he  has  been  born  again  (n.  83).  From  being  natural  to  becomt 
spiritual  is  to  be  born  again  (n.  83,  126). 

BOUNDARY.— Man  can  pass  from  the  natural  to  the  spiritual  only  through  a 
boundary,  such  c  boundary  as  may  be  likened  to  a  door  that  must  be 
first  unfastened  and  opened  (n.  71). 

BRAIN  (THE).— Composed  of  innumerable  substances  and  fibres  (n.  279[6]).  The 
brain  refines  the  blood  and  vivifies  it  anew  (n.  336). 

BRANCHES.— The  life's  love  is  the  tree,  the  branches  with  its  leaves  are  affections 
for  good  and  truth  with  their  perceptions,  and  the  fruits  are  the  enjoy- 
ments of  affections  with  their  thoughts  (n  107). 

BRIDE.— Why  heaven  and  the  church  are  called  "  the  Bride  "  in  the  Word  (n.  8). 

BRIDEGROOM.— Why  the  Lord  is  called  in  the  Word  "  the  Bridegroom  "  (n.  8). 

BUSINESS  is  a  good  when  that  is  the  final  love,  and  money  is  a  mediate  and 
subservient  love,  provided  the  business  man  shuns  and  turns  away  from 
frauds  and  evil  devices  as  sins  (n.  220[ii]).  There  are  business  trans- 
actions and  consequent  possessions  in  heaven,  since  there  are  societies 
and  communities  there  (n.  217U]). 


CAIN  signifies  wisdom  and  faith;  strictly,  wisdom  separated  from  love,  or  faith 
separated  from  charity.  "Cain  who  slew  Abel"  is  this  separated  faith 
which  rejects  love  and  charity  and  even  annihilates  them  (n.  242[i]). 
What  is  meant  by  the  cursing  and  the  marking  of  Cain  (n.  242[2j;  see 
also  236).  (See  ABEL.) 

CALF  OF  GOLD.— Why  its  worship  was  permitted  in  the  wilderness  (n.  243). 

CALVIN  (n.  50|4l). 

CANAAN.— By  "  the  Land  of  Canaan  "  is  meant  the  Lord's  church  (n.  132,  260). 

CANCER.— If  evils  were  prevented  they  would  remain  shut  in  and,  like  cancers, 
would  spread  and  consume  all  that  is  vital  in  man  (n.  251[i]). 


540  THE  ^II/INE 

CAPACITIES.— The  origin  of  evil  is  from  the  abuse  of  the  capacities  peculiar  to 
man  that  are  called  rationality  and  liberty.  These  two  capacities  are  in 
the  evil  as  well  as  in  the  good  (n.  15).  (See  FACULTY.) 

CAPTIVITY  (THE)  of  the  people  of  Judah  in  Babylonia  represents  the  devastation 
of  the  church  (n.  246). 

CAROTID  ARTERIES  (n.  296(14]). 

CART  (THE  NEW)  upon  which  the  ark  was  returned  by  the  Philistines  signified 
new  but  natural  doctrines  (n.  326[i2l). 

CARTILAGES  (THE).— All  the  members  and  organs  of  the  Grand  Man  are  spiritual, 
not  material;  and  it  has  been  provided  by  the  Lord  that  those  who  could 
not  be  reached  by  the  Gospel  but  only  by  a  religion  should  also  be  able 
to  have  a  place  in  the  Divine  Man,  that  is,  heaven,  constituting  those 
parts  that  are  called  skins,  membranes,  cartilages  and  bones  (n.  254[3], 
326). 

CATECHISM  >  is  at  the  present  day  but  like  a  little  sealed  book  or  writing  opened 

DECALOGUE  i    only  in  the  hands  of  children  and  youth  (n.  329[2l). 

CATHOLICISM  (ROMAN),  its  dominion  (n.  216(5]).  Why  such  things  have  been 
permitted  (n.  2571s]).  To  prevent  the  profaning  the  Most  Holy  Supper 
they  were  permitted  under  the  Divine  providence  to  divide  it,  and  to 
give  the  bread  only  to  the  people;  also,  to  make  it  corporeal  and 
material,  and  to  adopt  this  as  the  primary  principle  of  religion 
(n.  257[6]). 

CATHOLICS  (ROMAN).— Many  suffer  themselves  to  be  compelled  in  respect  to 
religion;  but  this  takes  place  with  those  in  whose  worship  there  is 
nothing  internal,  but  all  is  external  (n.  136[4]). 

CAUSE. — Whatever  is  done  from  any  cause  is  done  from  the  Divine  providence 
according  to  some  law  of  it  (n.  246).  A  thing  cannot  exist  and  operate 
without  a  cause  (n.  212[i]).  The  causes  of  permission  are  the  laws  of 
Divine  providence  (n.  249[s]).  If  you  withdraw  the  cause  from  the  effect 
the  effect  would  perish  (n.  3|>]).  The  cause  is  called  the  mediate  end 
(n.  108[2]).  The  Lord  is  not  the  cause  of  a  man's  thinking  evil  and 
falsity  (n.  292[i]). 

CENTRE.— Evils  transferred  from  the  centre  to  the  circumference  (n.  79[i]). 
That  which  is  at  the  centre  flows  out  even  to  the  circumference  (n.  86). 
In  the  wicked,  evil  with  falsities  are,  as  it  were,  in  the  centre,  while 
goods  with  truths  are  in  the  circumferences:  butin  the  good,  goods  with 
truths  are  in  the  centre  and  evils  with  falsities  are  in  the  circum- 
ferences (n.  86).  Thus  in  the  evil  the  goods  in  the  circumferences  are 
defiled  by  the  evils  at  the  centre:  while" in  the  good,  the  evils  in  the  cir- 
cumferences are  moderated  by  the  goods  at  the  centre  (n.  86).  What- 
ever is  at  the  centre  is  directly  under  view,  and  is  seen  and  perceived 
(n.  283). 

CHALDEA  signifies  the  profanation  of  truth  in  those  who  attribute  to  themselves 
what  is  Divine  (n.  231[s]).  Also  the  profanation  of  what  is  holy  (n.  251[3]). 
Chaldea  was  one  of  the  countries  in  which  the  Ancient  Church  existed, 
and  where  the  Ancient  Word  was  known  (n.  328). 

CHANGES.— Goods  and  truths  are  changes  and  variations  of  state  in  the  forms 
of  the  mind  (n.  195[s]).  Affections  are  changes  and  variations  of  state 
of  the  purely  organic  substances  of  the  mind,  and  thoughts  are  changes 
and  variations  in  the  form  of  these  substances.  Memory  is  the  state  of 
those  changes  that  remain  permanent  (n.  279[i,9]).  All  changes  and 
variations  of  state  in  organic  substances  are  such  that  having  once 
become  habitual  they  are  permanent  (n.  279[g]).  Changes  and  variations 
are  infinitely  more  perfect  in  the  organic  structures  of  the  mind  than  in 
those  of  the  body  (n.  279[g]).  Of  the  nature  and  quality  of  these  changes 
(n.  319(3]). 

CHARIOT  in  the  Word  signifies  doctrine  from  spiritual  truths  (n.  326[i2]). 

CHILDREN.— In  the  spiritual  world  all  children  are  led  by  the  Lord  into  angelic 
wisdom,  and  through  that  into  heavenly  love  by  means  of  things 
enjoyable  and  pleasing  (n.  136[6"J)  (See  INFANCY.) 


INDEX  541 

CHRIST.— No  one  can  even  mention  the  Lord  or  His  names,  "Jesus"  and 
"  Christ,"  except  from  Him  (n.  53[>]). 

CHRISTIANS  do  not  comprehend  that  God,  the  Creator  of  the  universe,  came 
into  the  world  and  assumed  the  Human:  and  in  their  thought  they 
separate  His  Divine  from  His  Human  (n.  255[4]).  Those  who  deny  the 
holiness  of  the  Word  are  not  regarded  as  Christians  (n.  256[3]). 

CHRISTIAN  RELIGION  (THK).— Why  it  is  accepted  only  in  the  smaller  division  ot 
the  habitable  globe  called  Europe,  and  is  there  divided  (n.  256).  Why  in 
many  kingdoms  where  the  Christian  religion  is  accepted  there  are  some 
who  claim  for  themselves  Divine  power,  and  wish  to  be  worshiped  as 
gods,  and  invoke  the  dead  (n.  257).  Why  among  those  who  profess  the 
Christian  religion  there  are  some  who  place  salvation  in  certain  phrases 
which  they  must  think  and  talk  about,  making  no  account  of  the  good 
works  they  must  do  (n.  258).  Why  hitherto  men  have  not  known  that  to 
shun  evils  as  sins  is  the  Christian  religion  itself  (n.  265). 

CHRISTIAN  WORLD.— While  the  whole  Christian  world  worships  one  God  under 
three  persons,  which  is  to  worship  three  Gods,  not  knowing  hitherto 
that  God  is  one  in  person  and  essence,  in  whom  is  a  trinity,  and  that  the 
Lord  is  that  God  (n.  262).  Why  there  have  been  and  still  are  so  many 
'heresies  in  the  Christian  world  (n.  259).  (See  HERESIES.) 

CHURCH.— There  are  most  general  principles  of  the  church  which  enter  into  all 
religions  and  constitute  that  communion;  these  are  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  God  and  good  of  life  (n.  325[a]).  The  Lord's  church  is  not  in 
the  Christian  world  only,  but  is  spread  and  dispersed  throughout  the 
world,  and  thus  exists  with  such  as  are  ignorant  of  the  Lord  and  do  not 
have  the  Word  (n.  325[i]).  On  this  earth  there  have  been  churches  from 
the  most  ancient  times.  These  are  described  in  the  Word;  first,  the 
Most  Ancient  Church;  second,  the  Ancient  Church;  third,  the  Hebraic 
Church,  from  which  sprang  the  Church  of  Israel  and  Judah  (n.  328)^  The 
churches  previous  to  that  of  Israel  and  Judah  are  described  only  by  the 
names  of  nations  and  persons  and  by  a  few  things  respecting  them  (n. 
328[i]).  The  Christian  church  followed  the  Jewish  (n.  328).  The  churches 
before  the  coming  of  the  Lord  were  all  representative  churches  (n.  255). 
The  Christian  Church  after  its  rise  degenerated  into  a  Babylon  which 
transferred  to  itself  the  Lord's  Divine  power;  but  lest  it  be  called 
Divine  power,  and  not  human  power,  they  made  the  Lord's  Human  like 
the  human  of  another  man  (n.  262[8]).  From  the  earliest  times,  when  a 
former  church  has  been  devastated  a  new  church  has  taken  its  place 
(n.  328[io]).  It  is  foretold  in  the  Apocalypse  that  the  Christian  Church 
will  be  followed  by  a  new  church  which  is  there  meant  by  "the  New 
Jerusalem  coming  down  out  of  heaven  "  (n.  328[io]). 

CHYLE.— Man  borne  through  infinite  turnings,  much  as  the  chyle  is  carried  to 
its  destination  (n.  164[6]). 

CIRCLE.— A  circle  of  love  to  thoughts  and  from  thoughts  to  love  from  love,  is  in 
all  things  of  the  human  mind.  This  circle  may  be  called  the  circle  of 
life  (n.  29[3]). 

•  CiviL.— The  civil  and  moral  man  can  also  become  spiritual,  for  the  civil  and 
moral  is  a  receptacle  of  the  spiritual.  He  is  called  a  civil  man  who 
knows  the  laws  of  the  kingdom  wherein  he  is  a  citizen  and  lives  accord- 
ing to  them  (n.  322[i]).  (See  MORAL.) 

CLEANSING.— All  cleansing  from  evils  is  from  the  Lord  (n.  151[2]).  So  long  as 
man  from  himself  holds  the  outmosts  closed  there  can  be  no  cleansing, 
but  only  such  operation  by  the  Lord  in  man's  interior  as  the  Lord 
carries  on  in  hell  (n.  119).  Among  the  Jews  washing  represented  cleans- 
ing from  evils.  Washing  the  head  and  the  hands  m>  ans  to  cleanse  the 
internal  man,  and  washing  the  feet  signifies  the  cleansing  of  the  natural 
or  external  man  (u.  151[>J).  How  a  man  is  cleansed  from  evil  (n.  121). 
(See  PURIFICATION.) 

COATS  OF  SKINS  (THE),  in  which  Adam  and  Eve  were  clothed,  signify  the 
appearances  of  truth,  which  were  all  they  had  (n.  SlSfoJ). 


542  THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE 

COGNITIONS  (see  KNOWLEDGES). 

COLORS.— There  could  be  no  variety  in  color  unless  the  light  were  constant  (n. 
1900])-  Various  colors  according  to  the  forms  into  which  light  flows  (n. 
160).  Colors  appear  the  same  in  the  light  of  winter  or  of  summer  (n. 
298[i]). 

COMBAT.— A  combat  of  the  internal  man  with  the  external  arises  when  one 
refrains  from  sins  (n.  146).  Combat  arises  when  a  man  thinks  that  evils 
are  sins  and  therefore  resolves  to  refrain  from  them  (n.  145[>],  146). 
From  contrariety  a  combat  arises,  and  when  this  becomes  severe  it  is 
called  temptation  (n.  145[>]).  In  those  who  have  indulged  much  in  the 
enjoyments  of  evil,  combats  appear  as  temptations  (n.  147,  284).  These 
combats  are  against  the  things  that  are  in  the  man  himself  and  that  he 
feels  to  be  his  own  (n.  147).  The  hardest  struggle  of  all  is  with  the  love 
of  rule  from  the  love  of  self  (n.  146). 

COMMANDMENTS  (see  PRECEPTS). 

COMMERCE  (see  BUSINESS). 

COMMUNICATION.— In  the  spiritual  world  there  is  a  communication  of  affec- 
tions and  of  consequent  thoughts  (n.  224[s]). 

COMPARISONS  regarding:  Evil  that  is  not  seen  (n.  278[s]).  Heavenly  love  with 
its  affections,  perceptions,  and  thoughts  (n.  107,  207).  Infernal  love  with 
its  affections,  lusts,  and  thoughts  (n.  107).  Joy  in  the  highest  and  the 
lowest  heaven  (n.  254[s]).  Lusts  with  their  enjoyments  (n.  112).  One 
who  denies  the  Divine  providence  compared  to  one  who  sees  a  magnifi- 
cent temple  and  hears  an  enlightened  preacher,  but  afterwards  declares 
that  he  has  only  seen  a  house  of  stone  and  heard  nothing  but  articulate 
sound  (n.  1890]).  Piety  without  repentance  (n.  121).  Pleasures  of  affec- 
tions for  good  (n.  40).  Pleasures  of  lusts  for  evil  (n.  40).  The  combat 
when  good  and  evil  meet  during  man's  reformation  (n.  284).  The  con- 
junction of  the  will  with  the  understanding  (n.  165).  The  life  of  the  evil; 
its  origin  (n.  160).  The  natural  rational  and  the  spiritual  rational  (n. 
154[a]).  Those  who  attribute  to  themselves  the  good  that  belongs  to 
charity  and  the  truth  that  belongs  to  faith  (n.  309[>]).  Wisdom  conjoined 
with  love  (n.  35).  Wisdom  in  its  progression  (n.  335[>]).  Wisdom  not 
conjoined  with  love  (n.  35). 

COMPARISONS  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.— Acid  (n.  316,  298[6]).  Affections  (n.  40). 
Actor  (n.  121|>],  217[6]).  Apes  (n.  121  [2],  298).  Arrow  (n.  202ts]).  Ashes 
(n.  278[5]).  Atmosphere  (n.  195).  Basement  (n.  311[s]).  Basilisk  (n. 
296).  Beast  (n.  176,  321[i]).  Besieged  city  (n.  113).  Birds  of  night  (n. 
117(2).  Blood  (n.  195[2]).  Bow  (n.  202[s]).  Cards  (n.  212).  Carved  imaere 
(n  1760])-  Camp  (n.  2330])-  Chyle  (n.  164[6]).  Clouds  (n.  137[4]).  Cold 
(n.  86).  Consorts  (n.  298).  Cords  (n.  296[s]).  Current  (n.  186,  200,  2%). 
Dead  body  (n.  282).  Dice  (n.  212).  Diseases  (n.  2810])-  Disease  of  the 
heart  (n.  184).  Door  (n.  71).  Dove  (n.  2920],  338[9]).  Drasron  (n.  296). 
Dross  (n.  140],  215[i3]).  Dung  (n.  140],  316).  Easrles  (n.  20).  Eggs(n. 
2920]).  Enemy  (n.  2330]).  Excrement  (n.  164[y]).  Faces  (n.  lf>8[^]). 
Falling  star  (n.  35).  Fire  (n.  112,  136[s],  278[sJ).  Fishes  (n.  56[3]).  Fixed 
star  (n.  35).  Floods  (n.  112).  Flower  bed  (n.  40).  Flowers  (perishable)  (n. . 
205).  Food  in  the  stomach  (n.  296).  Fortifications  (n.  2330 J).  Fruit  (n. 
215[is]).  Gardens  (n.  40).  Garments  (borrowed)  (n.  205).  Gold  (n.  140], 
215[i3]).  Grafting  (n.  296).  Harlot  (n.  1210],  199[i]),  Heaps  (scattered) 
(n.  20101).  Heat  (n.  86).  Hen  (n.  292).  Hinge  (n.  235).  Human  body  (n. 
45]).  Lamb  (n.  2%0])-  Leaven  (n.  25,  284).  Light  (n.  168[4],  297). 
Marksman  (n.  333[s]).  Meteor  (n.  35).  Mimics  (n.  1210]).  Mirror  (n.  52, 
1300],  298).  Near-siarhted  person  (n.  189[2]).  Noses  (n.  SlOCs]).  Owl  (n. 
338[gJ);  Horned  owl  (n.  2920]).  Palace  (n.  2030]).  Pearls  (n.  316). 
Pigeon  (n.  2960]).  Pirate  (n.  199[i]).  Player  (n.  298[4]).  Poison  (n.  184, 
281).  Red  lead  (n.  153).  River  (n.  730]).  Robber  (n.  199[iJ).  Sail  (n. 
235).  Screech  owl  (n.  2920],  296).  Screws  (n.  21101).  Seeds  (n.  30], 
56[s],  98[6]).  Serpents  (n.  40,  324[7],  a38[6]).  Sheep  (n.  296,  338[g]).  Ship 
(n.  198,  200).  Sores  (n.  113).  Spider  (n.  107,  286[i]).  Sponge  (n.  17). 


INDEX  543 

Statue  (n.  176,  321).  Sun  (n.  35, 160, 162).  Surface  (n.  217(61).  Swan  (n. 
292[2]).  Talent  (n.  2iO[2]).  Tide  (favoring)  (n.  186).  Tree  (n.  3[2],  107, 
160).  Tools  (n.  96[s]).  Turtle  dove  (n.  2960],  338[7]).  Ulcers  (n.  113, 
281).  Urine  (n.  165L?]).  Viper  (n.  292[>],  296).  Virgin  (n.  130|>]).  Wall 
(cracked)  (n.  318).  Water  (n.  195[>]).  Water  from  an  impure  fountain 
(n.  84[6]).  Water  (stagnant)  (n.  117[i]).  Wave  (n.  195,  200).  Wheel  (n. 
279[i]).  Windows  (n.  207;.  Wine  (n.  284).  Wound  (n.  278[s]).  Youth  (n. 
130L2]). 

COMPEL.— The  external  cannot  compel  the  internal,  but  the  internal  can 
compel  the  external.  The  internal  is  so  averse  to  compulsion  by  the 
external  that  it  turns  itself  away  (n.  136[i],  129[i]).  Being  compelled  is 
not  from  freedom  in  accordance  with  reason,  and  not  from  oneself,  but 
is  from  what  is  not  freedom,  and  from  another  (n.  129[i]).  The  Lord  in 
no  wise  compels  any  one  (n.  43).  It  is  impossible  to  compel  any  one  to 
think  what  he  is  not  willing  to  think  and  to  will  what  Ins  thought  for- 
bids him  to  will,  or  to  love  what  he  does  not  love  (n.  129[i]).  One  can 
no  more  be  compelled  to  believe  than  to  think  that  a  thing  is  so  when 
he  thinks  it  is  not  so ;  and  one  can  no  more  be  compelled  to  love  than  to 
will  what  he  does  not  will  (n.  136[>]).  There  is  an  internal  that  man  has 
in  common  with  beasts,  and  this  can  be  compelled  (n.  136[a]).  To  be 
compelled  by  love  and  a  fear  of  losing  it  is  to  compel  oneself  (n.  136[g]). 
It  is  not  contrary  to  rationality  and  liberty  to  compel  oneself  (n.  129Q$], 
I36[9],  147,  148,  145[3]).  Man's  spirit  has  full  liberty  by  influx  from  the 
spiritual  world,  which  does  not  compel  (n.  129[i]).  A  compelled  internal 
and  a  free  internal  are  possible  (n.  136[9]).  What  compelled  worship  is, 
and  what  worship  not  compelled  is  (n.  137).  To  compel  men  to  Divine 
worship  by  threats  and  punishments  is  pernicious  (n.  136[4]).  Compelled 
worship  shuts  in  evils  (n.  136[4]). 

CONCUBINE  in  the  Word  signifies  a  religion.  The  three  hundred  concubines  of 
Solomon  represent  various  religions  in  the  world  (n.  245). 

CONCUPISCENCES  (see  LUSTS). 

CONFESSION  is  a  primary  thing  on  man's  part  of  the  Christian  religion  (n. 
2786[i]).  Of  those  who  confess  themselves  guilty  of  all  sins  and  do  not 
search  out  any  sin  in  themselves  (n.  2786[i]).  Confession  of  all  sin  is 
unconsciousness  of  all  and  at  length  blindness.  It  is  like  a  universal 
apart  from  any  particular,  which  is  nothing  (n.  278b[i]). 

CONFIRM.— Every  thing  that  a  man  has  adopted  by  persuasion  and  confirmation 
remains  in  him  as  his  own  (n.  317).  There  is  nothing  tha-t  cannot  be 
confirmed,  and  falsity  is  confirmed  more  readily  than  the  truth  (n. 
3180]).  Every  falsity  and  every  evil  can  be  so  confirmed  as  to  make  the 
falsity  appear  like  truth,  and  every  evil  like  good  (n.  318[s],  286[i]). 
When  falsity  has  been  confirmed  truth  is  not  seen;  but  from  con- 
firmed truth  falsity  is  seen  (n.  318[6]).  Ability  to  confirm  whatever  one 
pleases  is  not  intelligence,  but  only  ingenuity,  which  may  exist  in  the 
worst  of  men  (n.  318).  Everything  confirmed  by  both  the  will  and  the 
understanding  remains  to  eternity;  but  not  what  has  been  confirmed 
by  the  understanding  only  (n.  319[9J).  He  that  upholds  evil  loves  does 
violence  to  Divine  goods,  and  he  that  upholds  false  principles  does  vio- 
lence to  Divine  truths  (n.  231[3]).  The  confirmation  of  falsity  is  a  denial 
of  truth,  and  the  confirmation  of  evil  is  a  rejection  of  good  (n.  231[3]). 
There  is  a  confirmation  that  is  intellectual  and  not  at  the  same  time 
voluntary,  but  all  voluntary  confirmation  is  also  intellectual  (n.  318[g]). 
The  confirmation  of  evil  that  is  both  voluntary  and  intellectual  causes 
man  to  believe  that  his  own  prudence  is  everything  and  the  Divine 
providence  nothing;  but  this  is  not  true  of  intellectual  confirmation 
alone  (n.  318[ioJ).  There  are  some  who  are  very  skilful  in  confirming, 
and  although  ignorant  of  any  truth  are  able  to  confirm  both  truth  and 
falsity  (n.  318[8]). 

CONFLICT.  (  —During  man's  reformation  good  and  evil  meet,  and  then  conflict 

COMBAT.     )    and  combat  arise ;  this  if  severe  is  called  temptation  (n.  284). 


544  THE  DIVINE  TROI/IDENCE 

CONJOIN  (TO).— How  a  man  can  be  more  nearly  conjoined  with  the  Lord  (n. 
33[i]).  Everyone  acknowledges  God  and  is  conjoined  with  Him  accord- 
ing to  the  good  of  his  life  (n.  326O]).  The  conjunction  of  the  Lord  with 
a  man  or  a  spirit  or  an  angel  is  such  that  every  tiling  that  has  relation 
to  the  Divine  is  not  from  them,  but  from  the  Lord  (n.  53[2]).  Love  is 
conjunction  itself  (n.  34[i]).  The  more  nearly  a  man  is  conjoined  with 
the  Lord  the  wiser  he  becomes  (n.  34[iJ);  and  the  happier  (n.  41);  and 
the  more  distinctly  does  he  appear  to  himself  to  be  his  own,  and  the 
more  clearly  does  he  recognize  that  he  is  the  Lord's  (n.  42).  The  Lord 
conjoins  man  with  Himself  by  means  of  appearances  (n.  219[s]);  and  by 
means  of  correspondences  (n.  219[6]).  Through  His  Divine  providence 
the  Lord  conjoins  Himself  with  natural  things  by  means  of  spiritual 
things,  and  with  temporal  things  by  means  of  eternal  things  according 
to  uses  (n.  220[4]).  The  Lord  conjoins  Himself  with  uses  by  means  of 
correspondences,  and  thus  by  means  of  appearances  in  accordance  with 
the  confirmations  of  these  by  man  (n.  220[6]).  The  understanding  does 
not  conjoin  itself  with  the  will,  or  the  thought  of  the  understanding  with 
the  affection  of  the  will,  but  the  will  with  its  affection  conjoins  itself 
with  the  understanding  and  its  thought  (n.  80).  (See  CONJUCTION.) 

CONJUGIAL  LOVE  is  the  spiritual  heavenly  love  itself,  an  image  of  love  of  the 
Lord  and  of  the  church,  and  derived  from  that  love  (n.  144[>]).  Love 
truly  conjugial  communicates  with  the  inmost  heaven  (n.  144[3]). 

CONJUNCTION  with  the  Lord  is  according  to  the  reception  of  love  and  wisdom 
from  Him  (n.  162[i]).  Conjunction  with  the  Lord  and  regeneration  are 
the  same  (n.  92[i]).  The  conjunction  is  more  and  more  near  or  more  and 
more  remote  (n.  28[i],  32[3]).  So  far  as  one  shuns  evils  as  diabolical  and  as 
obstacles  to  the  Lord's  entrance,  he  is  more  and  more  nearly  conjoined 
with  the  Lord  (n.  33[s]).  The  end  of  the  Lord's  Divine  providence  is  the 
conjunction  of  the  human  race  with  Himself  (n.  45).  The  more  nearly 
any  one  is  conjoined  with  the  Lord  the  more  distinctly  does  he  appear 
to  himself  to  be  his  own,  and  the  more  clearly  does  he  recognize  that 
he  is  the  Lord's  (n.  158).  Conjunction  of  the  Lord  with  man  and  the 
reciprocal  conjunction  of  man  with  the  Lord  are  effected  by  means  of 
the  two  faculties,  rationality  and  liberty  (n.  92[iJ);  and  by  loving  the 
neighbor  as  oneself  and  loving  the  Lord  above  all  things  (n.  94,  326). 
The  reciprocal  conjunction  of  angels  with  the  Lord  is  not  from  the 
angels,  but  is  as  if  it  were  from  them  (n.  28[4]).  By  means  of  the  two 
faculties,  rationality  and  liberty,  there  is  a  conjunction  of  the  Lord  with 
every  man,  both  the  evil  and  the  good,  so  every  man  has  immortality. 
But  eternal  life,  that  is,  the  life  of  heaven,  is  given  to  him  in  whom  there 
is  a  reciprocal  conjunction  from  inmosts  to  outmosts  (n.  96(7]).  Upon  the 
conjunction  of  the  Creator  with  man  both  the  connection  of  all  things 
and  the  conservation  of  all  things  depend  (n.  3Q}]).  Love  does  nothing 
except  in  conjunction  with  wisdom  (n.  4[i]).  All  conjunction  in  the 
spiritual  world  is  effected  by  means  of  looking  to  another  (n.  29[i]). 
Examples  of  presence  and  conjunction  in  the  spiritual  world  (n.  326). 
The  acknowledgment  of  God  causes  a  conjunction  of  God  with  man  and 
of  man  with  God  (n.  326[i]).  In  the  spiritual  world  conjunction  is  from 
an  affection  that  springs  from  love  (n.  326[s]).  The  several  particulars 
in  the  human  mind  are  associated  and  conjoined  according  to  affections, 
or  as  one  thing  loves  another.  This  conjunction  is  spiritual  conjunction, 
which  is  like  itself  in  things  general  and  particular.  Its  origin  is  from 
the  conjunction  of  the  Lord  with  the  spiritual  world  and  with  the 
natural  world,  in  general  and  in  particular  (n.  326[4]).  The  conjunction  of 
the  will  with  the  understanding  is  like  the  inflow  of  the  blood  from  the 
heart  into  tne  lungs  (n.  165).  The  conjunction  of  all  things  of  the  will 
and  understanding,  that  is,  of  the  mind  of  man  with  his  life's  love 
(n.  108[i]).  There  is  no  conjunction  of  minds  unless  it  is  reciprocal,  and 
the  reciprocation  is  what  conjoins  (n.  92[>]).  If  one  loves  another  and 
is  not  loved  in  return,  then  as  the  one  approaches  the  other  withdraws; 


INDEX  545 

but  if  he  hs  loved  in  return  then  as  one  approaches  the  other  approaches 
and  conjunction  takes  place  (n.  92|>]). 

CONSERVATION  (THE).— Upon  the  conjunction  of  the  Creator  with  man  both 
the  connection  of  all  things  and  conservation  of  all  things  depend 
(n.  3[3])- 

CONSTANT.—  There  are  many  constant  things  created  in  order  that  things  not 
constant  may  have  existence;  some  named  and  described  (n.  190[i]). 

CONSUMMATION,— The  end  of  a  church  is  called  its  consummation  (n.  328[s]). 
The  consummation  of  the  Most  Ancient  Church,  the  Ancient  Church, 
the  Hebraic  Church  and  the  Church  of  Israel  and  .Tudah  are  described 
in  the  Word.  The  decline  and  consummation  of  the  Christian  Church 
is  described  in  the  Apocalypse  (n.  328U]). 

CONTAGIOUSNESS  OF  EVIL,  whence  it  arises  (n.  328[7J). 

CONTAINANTS.— Extremes  and  outmosts  are  containants,  and  these  are  in  the 
natural  world  (n.  220[2j).  By  death  the  grosser  things  of  nature  are  put 
off,  while  the  purer  things  of  nature  which  are  nearest  to  spiritual 
things  are  retained;  and  these  then  become  his  containants  (n.  220[3]). 

CONTIGUITY. — Whatever  is  living  in  man  or  angel  is  from  the  Divine  going  forth 
conjoined  with  him  by  contiguity,  and  appearing  to  him  as  if  it  were 
his  (n.  57). 

CONTINUITY.— The  natural  does  not  communicate  with  the  spiritual  by  con- 
tinuity but  by  correspondences;  how  felt  (n.  41). 

CONVERSATION  WITH  SPIRITS  is  possible,  though  rarely  with  the  angels  of 
heaven,  and  this  has  been  granted  to  many  for  ages  (n.  135).  Conversa- 
tion with  the  dead  would  have  the  same  effect  as  miracles,  namely,  man 
would  be  persuaded  and  forced  (n.  134). 

CORDS.— The  evil  man,  so  long  as  he  lives  in  the  world,  does  not  feel  the  cords 
that  bind  him ;  they  are  as  if  of  soft  wool  or  smooth  threads  of  silk, 
which  he  loves  because  they  titillate.  But  after  death  they  become  hard 
and  galling  (n.  296[s]). 

CORRESPONDENCES.— All  things  of  the  mind  correspond  to  all  things  of  the 
body  (n.  181[i]).  The  Lord  conjoins  Himself  with  uses  by  means  of 
correspondences,  and  thus  by  means  of  appearances  (n.  220).  All  things 
of  the  Word  are  pure  correspondences  of  spiritual  and  celestial  things, 
and  because  they  are  correspondences  they  are  also  appearances  (n. 
220[6]).  Correspondences  are  in  great  part  appearances  of  truth,  within 
which,  however,  genuine  truths  are  hidden  (n.  256[s]).  The  Word  is 
written  throughout  wholly  in  correspondences  (n.  256U]).  Among  the 
ancients  there  was  a  knowledge  of  correspondences  (which  includes  a 
knowledge  of  representatives),  the  essential  knowledge  of  the  wise. 
This  was  especially  cultivated  in  Egypt  (n.  255[>]). 

COUNCIL  OF  TRENT.— Of  a  papal  bull  confirming  the  decree  of  the  (n.  2570]). 

COUNTENANCE.— The  internal  is  hidden  interiorly  in  the  tone,  m  the  speech,  in 
the  countenance,  and  in  the  gestures  of  the  external  (n.  224^]). 

COVENANT.— Why  the  two  tables  of  the  law  are  called  the  covenant  (n.  326[>]). 

COVERINGS.— Man  after  death  is  just  as  much  a  man  as  he  was  in  the  world, 
with  this  difference  only,  that  he  has  cast  off  the  coverings  that  formed 
his  bony  in  the  world  (n.  124[i]). 

Cows  (THAT  CARRIED  BACK  THE  ARK),  signified  good  natural  affections  (n. 
326[i2]). 

CREATE.— The  universe,  with  each  thing  and  all  things  therein,  was  created 
from  Divine  love  by  means  of  Divine  wisdom  (n.  3).  The  Divine  love 
and  the  Divine  wisdom,  which  are  a  one  in  the  Lord,  are  in  every 
created  thing  in  a  certain  semblance  (n.  5).  In  every  thing  created  there 
is  something  that  is  referable  to  the  marriage  of  good  and  truth  (n. 
74[2]).  No  angel  or  spirit  was  created  such  immediately,  but  they  were 
all  born  first  as  men  (n.  220[>]),  Every  man  was  created  to  live  to 
eternity  in  a  state  of  blessedness  (n.  324[6]).  Man  was  created  to  be  a 
receptacle  of  the  Divine  love  and  of  the  Divine  wisdom  (n.  328[5]).  The 
difference  between  creating  and  preceding  from  'n  219[2]). 


546  THE  "DIVINE  PROVIDENCE 

CREATION.— The  end  of  creation  is  a  heaven  from  the  human  race  (n.  323).  All 
things  exterior  to  man  and  that  are  serviceable  to  him  in  the  way  of  use 
are  secondary  ends  of  creation  (n.  332[iJ).  The  Lord  created  the  uni- 
verse that  an  infinite  and  eternal  creation  from  Himself  might  exist  in 
it  (n.  202[i],  20312]).  The  new  creation,  that  is,  the  regeneration  of  the 
men  of  the  Most  Ancient  Church,  is  described  in  the  first  chapter  of 
Genesis  by  the  creation  of  heaven  and  earth  (n.  241(i]).  The  laws  of 
Divine  order  established  in  the  first  creation  (n.  332[i]).  All  things  of 
the  universe  are  creations  from  Divine  love  and  Divine  wisdom  (n.  1,  3). 

CROWNS.— "The  seven  crowns  upon  the  heads  of  the  dragon"  (Apoc.  xii.  3) 
signify  the  holy  things  of  the  Word  and  the  church  profaned  (n.  310[5]). 

CRUCIFY.— Why  the  Jewish  nation  was  permitted  to  crucify  the  Lord  (n.  247). 

CRUELTY  originates  in  love  of  self  (n.  2760]). 

CUNNING  (THE),  their  fate  in  the  other  lite  (n.  310). 

CUP  OF  COLD  WATER  (Matt.  x.  42)  means  something  of  truth  (n.  230[s]). 

CURE  (TO).— The  evils  of  a  man's  life's  love  can  be  cured  by  spiritual  means  as 
diseases  are  by  natural  means  (n.  281  [2]).  (See  HEAL.) 

CURSE.— The  cursing  of  Cain  involves  the  spiritual  state  into  which  those  come 
*  after  death  who  separate  faith  from  charity  or  wisdom  from  love  (n. 
242[2]).  What  are  real  curses  (n.  217,  250). 

DAGON  represented  the  religion  of  the  Philistines  (n.  326fi2]). 

DAMNATION.— Predestination  to  non-salvation  is  damnation  (n.  329[s]).  Man's 
first  state  is  a  state  of  damnation  (n.  83[iJ).  By  a  belief  in  instantaneous 
salvation  out  of  pure  mercy  damnation  is  attributed  to  the  Lord  (n. 
340[5]).  That  any  of  the  human  race  have  been  damned  from  predestin- 
ation is  a  cruel  heresy  (n.  330[8]). 

DANES,  what  they  teach  in  their  exhortation  to  the  holy  communion  (n.  114[i]). 

DARKNESS  (tenebrae).—In  the  Word  falsities  are  called  "  darkness,"  and  thus 
those  in  falsities  are  said  to  "  walk  in  darkness  and  in  the  shadow  of 
death  "  (n.  318[s]).  Hypocrites  sent  into  outer  darkness  (n.  231f4]). 

THICK  DARKNESS  (caligo).— When  an  angel  of  heaven  looks  into  hell  he 

sees  nothing  but  mere  thick  darkness,  or  when  a  spirit  of  hell  looks  into 
heaven  he  sees  nothing  there  but  thick  darkness;  the  reason  (n.  167). 
Those  who  are  sent  into  outer  darkness  (n.  231[4]). 

DAVID  represents  the  Lord  who  was  to  come  into  the  world  (n.  244,  245). 

DEAD.— The  natural  man,  however  civilly  and  morally  he  may  act,  is  called 
dead  (n.  322[s] ;  see  also  n.  236). 

DEATH  is  a  continuation  of  life,  with  the  difference  that  man  cannot  then 
be  reformed  (n.  2776).  By  death  man  puts  off  the  grosser  things  of 
nature,  and  retains  the  purer  things  of  nature  which  are  nearest  to 
spiritual  things,  and  these  then  become  his  containants  (n.  220[sJ).  By 
death  man  puts  off  what  is  natural  and  temporal,  and  puts  on  the 
spiritual  and  eternal  things  that  correspond  to  them  (n.  220[4,2]).  In 
the  spiritual  world,  into  which  every  man  comes  after  death,  it  is  not 
asked  what  your  belief  or  what  your  doctrine  has  been,  but  what  your 
life  has  been  (n.  101[s]).  The  natural  man,  however  civilly  and  morally 
he  may  act,  is  called  dead,  but  the  spiritual  man  is  called-  living  (n. 
322[3]).  After  death  a  man  is  no  longer  borne  from  one  society  to 
another  in  the  spiritual  world,  because  he  is  no  longer  in  any  state  to 
be  reformed  (n.  307[>]). 

DECALOGUE  (THE),  was  the  first  thing  of  the  Word,  and.  when  placed  in  the  ark, 
was  called  "Jehovah,"  and  constituted  the  Holy  of  Holies  in  the  taber- 
nacle and  in  the  sanctuary  in  the  temple  of  Jerusalem  (n.  326[n]).  There 
are  two  tables  of  the  decalogue,  one  relating  to  God  and  the  other  to 
man  (n.  326|>]).  The  decalogue  taught  to  children  (n.  25,S[4],  265[s]).  The 
decalogue  at  the  present  day  is  like  a  little  sealed  book  or  writing 
opened  only  in  the  hands  of  children  and  youth  (n.  329[>]). 

DEEDS  (see  WORKS). 


INDEX  547 

DEGREKS.— There  are  two  ktndfc  of  degrees,  discrete  degrees,  that  is,  degrees  of 
height;  and  continuous  degrees,  that  is,  degrees  of  breadth  (n.  32[2]). 
There  are  three  discrete  degrees  or  degrees  of  height  in  man  from 
creation  (n.  32).  Every  man  by  his  creation  and  consequently  by  birth 
has  three  discrete  degrees  or  degrees  of  height;  the  tirst  degree  is  called 
the  natural,  the  second  the  spiritual,  the  third  the  celestial  (n.  32[a], 
324(i]).  These  degrees  the  Lord  opens  in  man  according  to  his  life 
actually  in  this  worid,  but  not  perceptibly  and  sensibly  till  after  he 
leaves  this  world  (n.  32[3]).  There  are  three  degrees  of  wisdom  in  man; 
these  are  opened  in  the  measure  of  his  conjunction  with  the  Lord. 
Since  love  is  conjunction  itself  they  are  opened  in  the  measure  of  love 
(n.  34[i]).  These  degrees  are  not  connected  continuously,  but  are  con- 
joined by  correspondences  (n.  34[>]).  Wisdom  can  be  elevated  in  a 
triplicate  ratio,  and  in  each  degree  in  a  simple  ratio  to  its  highest  point 
(n.  34(>]).  There  are  three  degrees  of  life  in  man.  In  oeasts  there  is 
only  one,  which  is  like  the  lowest  degree  in  man  called  the  natural  (n. 
324[i]).  The  reason  why  many  in  the  world  are  not  prepared  for  heaven 
is  that  they  love  the  first  degree  of  their  life  which  is  called  the  natural, 
and  are  unwilling  to  withdraw  from  it  and  become  spiritual  (n.  324[io]). 
The  natural  degree  of  life  viewed  in  itself  loves  nothing  but  self  and  the 
world;  the  spiritual  degree  loves  the  Lord  and  heaven,  and  also  self  and 
the  world,  but  God  and  his  heaven  as  higher,  chief,  and  dominant,  and 
self  and  the  world  as  lower,  instrumental,  and  subservient  (n.  324[io]). 
The  Lord  alone  opens  the  spiritual  degree  and  the  celestial  degree, 
and  opens  them  in  those  only  who  are  wise  from  Him  (n.  34[s]).  Every 
angel  perfecting  in  wisdom  to  eternity,  but  each  according  to  the 
degree  of  that  affection  in  good  and  truth  in  which  he  was  when  he  left 
the  world  (n.  334). 

DELIGHTS.— There  is  no  affection  or  lust  without  delight,  since  these  make  the 
life  of  every  one  (n.  303).  The  delight  of  his  affection  fills  and  surrounds 
every  angel  of  heaven,  and  a  general  delight  of  all  together,  or  a  most 
general  delight,  tills  and  surrounds  the  universal  heaven.  In  like  man- 
ner the  delight  of  his  lust  tills  and  surrounds  every  spirit  of  hell,  and  a 
general  delight  every  society  of  hell,  and  the  delight  of  all,  or  a  most 
general  delight,  tills  and  surrounds  the  entire  hell  (n.  303).  What  de- 
light and  pleasure  are  (n.  312).  The  delights  belonging  to  the  lusts  are 
evils,  and  the  thoughts  belonging  to  the  delights  are  falsities  (n.  206[>]). 
The  delight  of  evil  grows  with  the  evil  man  as  he  wills  and  does  evil 
(n.  29(5[3]).  The  delight  of  the  affection  of  their  life's  love  encompasses 
every  one  as  his  atmosphere  (n.  196).  What  and  how  great  the  delight 
of  the  love  of  ruling  from  the  love  of  self  (n.  215[g]).  (See  ENJOYMENTS.) 

DELUGE.— The  consummation  of  the  Most  Ancient  Church  which  came  from 
their  "  eating  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  "  is  depicted  by  the  "  flood  "  (n. 
328[4]). 

DENY  (TO).— Those  who  deny  God  in  the  world  deny  Him  after  death  (n.  326[s]). 
Those  who  deny  the  Divinity  of  the  Lord  cannot  be  admitted  into 
heaven  and  be  in  the  Lord  (n.  231  [6]).  So  far  as  one  denies  the  Lord  he 
is  severed  from  Him  (n.  326U]). 

DERIVATIVES  OF  THE  LOVE  OP  EVIL  (n.  33[i]).  The  derivations  of  infernal  love 
are  affections  for  evil  and  falsity,  which,  strictly  speaking,  are  lusts;  and 
the  derivations  of  heavenly  love  are  affections  for  good  and  truth, 
which,  strictly  speaking,  are  dilections  (n.  106[>]).  The  lusts  of  evil, 
which  are  derivatives  of  that  love,  have  their  life  from  it  (n.  206[>]). 

DESCRIPTION  (A  SHORT),  of  heaven  and  hell  (n.  299-306). 

DESOLATION.— The  causes  leading  to  a  gradual  vastation  of  good  and  desolation 
of  truth  in  the  church,  until  its  consummation  is  reached  (n.  328[y]). 

DEVASTATION.— The  essential  devastation  of  the  church  was  represented  by 
the  destruction  of  the  temple  itself,  and  by  the  carrying  away  of  the 
people  of  Israel,  and  by  the  captivity  of  the  people  of  Judah  in  Baby- 
lonia (n.  246). 


548  THE  THYINE  VROWDENCE 

DETERMINATION.— Every  power  must  have  a  supply  that  must  be  imparted  to  it. 
and  thus  a  determination  from  what  is  more  internal  or  liiirher  than 
itself  (n.  88[i]).  The  mind  has  not  from  itself  the  power  to  think  and 
to  will  one  thing  or  another  apart  from  something  more  internal  or 
higher  that  determines  the  mind  to  it  (n.  88[i]). 

DEVICES.— The  perceptions  belonging  to  lusts  of  evil  are  devices  (n.  206[>]). 

DEVIL. — By  the  "devil  "  is  meant  hell  in  the  whole  complex  (n.  204).  There  is  no 
devil  who  is  sole  lord  in  hell,  but  the  love  of  self  is  called  the  "devil "  (n. 
302).  Hell  in  its  form  is  like  a  monstrous  man,  whose  soul  is  the  love  of 
self  and  self-intelligence,  thus  the  devil  (n.  302).  Whether  you  say  evil  or 
the  devil  it  is  the  same;  the  devil  is  within  all  evil  (n.  233[s]).  Evil  is 
the  devil  (n.  215[i3]).  Evil  and  the  devil  are  one,  and  the  falsity  of  evil 
and  Satan  are  one  (n.  33[s]).  Those  who  confirm  in  themselves  the  lusts 
of  evil  are  called  satans,  and  those  who  live  those  lusts  are  called  devils 
(n.  310[3]).  I  have  seen  fiery  devils  who,  while  they  were  hearing  the 
secrets  of  wisdom,  not  only  understood  them  but  from  their  rationality 
talked  about  them;  but  as  soon  as  they  returned  to  their  diabolical  love 
they  ceased  to  understand  them  (n.  223).  (See  HELL  and  SATAX.) 

DIASTOLE,  what  it  is  (n.  319[i]). 

DIFFERENCE  between  those  who  believe  all  good  to  be  from  the  Lord  and  those 
who  believe  good  to  be  from  themselves  (n.  93) ;  between  man  and  beasts 
(n.  74,  96U],  276[i]);  between  enlightenment  from  the  Lord  and  enlight- 
enment from  man  (n.  168,  169);  between  the  love  of  dignities  and  riches 
for  their  own  sake,  and  the  lore  of  them  for  the  sake  of  uses  (n.  215[i]). 

DIGESTION,  the  process  of  (n.  296[i4]). 

DIGNITIES.— What  dignities  and  riches  are  and  whence  they  are  (n.  215[2]).  Nat- 
ural and  temporal  in  external  form,  but  spiritual  and  eternal  in  internal 
form  (n.  220[8]).  Dignities  and  wealth  to  the  wicked  are  but  stumbling 
blocks  (n.  250[i]).  What  spiritual  dignities  and  possessions  are  (n.  217[4]). 
Dignities  in  the  earliest  times  were  such  only  as  were  accorded  by  child- 
ren to  parents.  They  were  dignities  of  love,  full  of  respect  and  venera- 
tion-(n.  215[2]).  (See  HONORS.) 

DISCIPLE.— By  a  "  disciple  "  (Matt.  x.  42)  is  meant  the  state  of  those  who  are  in 
some  of  the  spiritual  things  of  the  church  (n.  230[s]). 

DISSENSIONS.  )  —There  must  needs  spring  up  in  the  church  disputes,  contro- 

HERESIES.  ]  versies  and  dissensions,  especially  in  regard  to  the  understanding 
of  the  Word  (n.  256[s],  259[2J).  Permissions  of  these  are  in  accord  vvith 
the  laws  of  the  Divine  providence  (n.  259[2]).  If  the  church  had  held  to 
the  three  essentials  it  would  not  have  been  divided,  but  only  varied  by 
intellectual  dissensions,  as  light  varies  its  color  in  beautiful  objects  (n. 
259[3]). 

DISTANCE  is  an  appearance  according  to  conjunction  with  the  Lord  (n.  162[ip. 
The  Lord  appears  to  angels  at  a  distance  like  a  sun  (n.  162!  i]).  Distances 
appear  in  the  spiritual  world  in  accord  with  the  dissimilarity  of  affec- 
tions and  of  thoughts  therefrom  (n.  162[s]).  The  spiritual  is  not  in 
distance  as  the  natural  is  (n.  312[2]).  It  is  the  appearance  of  distance 
that  causes  one  kind  of  belief  about  what  man  thinks  and  perceives, 
and  another  about  what  he  sees  and  hears  (n.  312[2]). 

DISTINCT.— What  is  not  distinct  is  mixed  up,  giving  rise  to  every  imperfection  of 
form  (n.  4[4]). 

DIVIDED.— The  Lord  does  not  suffer  any  thing  to  be  divided  (n.  16).  (See 
DIVISION.) 

DIVINE.— The  Divine  looks  to  what  is  eternal  in  every  man,  both  in  the  evil  and 
in  the  good  (n.  59).  The  Divine  is  in  every  created  thing  because  the  sun 
of  the  spiritual  world,  which  is  from  the  Lord,  and  from  which  all  things 
are,  is  in  every  created  thing,  but  with  infinite  variety  according  to  uses 
(n.  5[i]).  The  Divine  in  itself  is  in  the  Lord,  and  the  Divine  from  itselt  is 
the  Divine  from  the  Lord  in  created  things  (n.  52).  What  is  D-vine  can- 
not be  appropriated  to  man  as  his,  but  can  be  adjoined  to  him  and 
thereby  appear  as  his  (n.  235[2]). 


INDEX  549 

DIVINE  ESSENCE  (THE)  is  love  and  wisdom  (n.  46).    (See  ESSENCE.) 

DIVINE  GOING  FORTH  (THE)  is  called  the  Holy  Spirit  (n.  2C2[5J). 

DIVINE  HUMAN  (THE),  is  that  which  is  called  the  Son  (n.  262[5]).  It  has  come  to 
pass  that  a  Christian  can  scarcely  be  led  to  think  of  a  Divine  Human  (n. 
262[5J). 

DIVINE  ITSELF  (THE).— The  essential  Divine,  from  which  are  all  things,  is  that 
which  is  called  the  Father  (n.  262[s]).  By  the  Infinite  and  Eternal  in  it- 
self the  Divine  itself  is  meant  (n.  52). 

DIVINE  LOVE  AND  WISDOM  (THE),  go  tortu  from  the  Lord  as  a  one  (n.  4[i]). 
The  Divine  love  and  Divine  wisdom  are  substance  and  are  form  (n.  4(3], 
46[sJ).  Divine  love  is  of  Divine  wisdom,  and  Divine  wisdom  is  of  Divine 
love  (n.  4[i]).  Divine  love  created  all  things,  but  nothing  apart  from 
Divine  wisdom  (n.  3[3]).  Divine  Iov3  has  as  its  end  a  heaven  consisting 
of  men  who  have  become  or  are  becoming  angels  (n.  27[2]). 

DIVISION.— A  man  can  be,  while  he  is  living  in  the  world,  in  good  and  in  falsity 
at  the  same  time,  and  thus  be  as  it  were  a  double  man,  and  inasmuch 
as  this  division  destroys  the  man,  the  Lord's  Divine  providence,  in 
each  and  every  particular  of  it,  has  as  its  end  that  this  division  shall  not 
be  (n.  16).  (See  DIVIDED.) 

DOGMA.— Where  there  is,  conversation  with  the  dead,  dogmas  of  religion  are 
sometimes  imposed  upon  the  mind  by  spirits.  This  is  never  done  by  any 
go  >d  spirit,  still  less  by  any  angel  of  heaven  (n.  134&). 

DOING.— When  love  is  taken  away  there  is  no  longer  any  willing  and  thus  no 
doing  (n.  3[i]).  , 

DOMINION  (LOVE  OF).— When  the  love  of  rule  from  the  mere  delight  of  that  love 
gradually  came  in  (n.  215[s]).  (See  RULE.) 

DOMINION  (THE  LORD'S),  which  is  not  only  over  heaven,  but  also  over  hell,  is  a 
dominion  of  uses  (n.  26).  (See  KINGDOM.) 

DOOR.— The  "  door  "  (John  x.  2,  3)  means  the  Lord  (n.  23()[4]).  When  the  door 
stands  open  and  when  shut  (n.  71).  The  love  of  self  guards  the  door  lest 
man  should  open  it,  and  the  Lord  should  thereby  cast  it  out  (n.  210[>]). 
Evils  obstruct  and  close  the  door  (n.  119).  This  door  cannot  be  opened 
by  the  Lord  but  by  means  of  the  man  (n.  116,  119).  When  man  refrains 
from  evils  as  sins  a  door  is  opened  and  the  Lord  casts  out  the  lusts  of 
evil  that  have  occupied  the  internal  of  thought  (n.  145[2]).  Man  opens 
this  door  by  shunning  evils  as  sins  as  if  from  himself  with  the  acknow- 
ledgment that  he  does  it  from  the  Lord  (n.  210[>]).  The  door  is  opened 
by  man's  removing  evil  by  shunning  and  turning  away  from  it  as  infer- 
nal and  diabolical  (n.  233[s]).  When  man  as  if  of  himself  opens  the  door, 
the  Lord  roots  out  the  lusts  and  the  evils  together  (n.  119).  The  Lord 
continually  solicits  and  urges  man  to  open  the  door  to  Him  (n.  119). 

DRAGON  (THE).— By  the  "dragon  "  in  the  Word  are  meant  those  who  separate 
faith  from  charity  (n.  258[i]). 

DWELLING  PLACE  (see  ABODE). 

EAGLES  signify  rapacious  men  who  are  endowed  with  intellectual  sight  (n.  20). 

EAR  (THE).— There  cannot  be  hearing  apart  from  its  form,  which  is  the  ear  (n. 
279[6]).  Very  little  is  known  as  to  how  the  ear  hears  (n.  336, 174,  180). 
The  understanding  from  the  will  flows  into  the  eye  and  the  ear,  and  not 
only  makes  those  senses  but  also  uses  them  as  its  instrument  in  the 
natural  world;  this  is  not  in  accordanc  ewith  the  appearance  (n.  314[ij). 
It  is  the  understanding  that  sees  in  the  eye  and  hears  in  the  ear,  and 
not  the  reverse  (n.  150[2]). 

EAT.—"  Eating  from  the  tree  of  knowledge  "  signifies  the  appropriation  of  good 
and  truth  as  being  from  man  and  consequently  man's,  and  not  from  the 
Lord  and  consequently  the  Lord's  (n.  3130],  241).  "  Eating  of  the  tree 
of  knowledge"  signifies  the  conceit  of  self-intelligence  (n.  328U]).  A 
knowledge  of  evil  after  the  fall  is  meant  by  "  eating  from  the  tree  of  the 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil"  (n.  275).  The  end  of  the  Most  Ancient 


550  THE  DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

Church  is  signified  by  the  "eating  from  the  tree  of  knowledge"  (n.  241[i]> 

EBER.— The  Ancient  Church  was  notably  changed  by  Eber  (or  Heber),  from 
whom  arose  the  Hebraic  Church  (n.  328[a]). 

EDEN  (THE  GARDEN  OF).— The  wisdom  and  intelligence  of  the  Most  Ancient 
Church  are  described  by  "  the  garden  of  Eden  "  (n.  241[i],  313).  Man's 
wisdom  originating  in  love  is  depicted  by  a  garden  (n.  332[3]). 

EFFECT.— Withdraw  the  cause  from  the  effect  and  the  effect  would  perish  (n. 
3[2]).  Effect  is  called  the  outmost  enB  (n.  10S[2]).  (tee  END.) 

EFFORT.— Withdraw  effort  from  movement,  movement  would  stop  (n.  3[a]). 

EGYPT  was  one  of  the  kingdoms  in  which  the  Ancient  Church  existed  and  in 
which  the  Ancient  Word  was  known  (n.  328[2]).  (Here  and  in  other 
places  where  the  same  statement  is  made,  Egypt  is  named  as  in  Asia,  in 
which  it  had  extensive  dominion.)  Why  the  sons  of  Israel  were  led  out 
of  Egypt  (n.  243). 

EGYPTIANS  (THE),  represent  a  particular  kind  of  evil  (n.  251[s]).  They  con- 
verted correspondences  into  magic  (n.  264[6]). 

ELEVATION.  \  —The  ascent  of  love  according  to  degrees  is  perceived  by  man 

ASCENT.  /  only  in  an  obscure  way,  while  the  ascent  of  wisdom  is  clearly 
perceived  by  such  as  know  and  see  what  wisdom  is  (n.  34[iJ).  Exaltation 
in  respect  to  affection  would  not  be  possible  unless  man  had  from 
rationality  an  ability  to  raise  the  understanding,  and  from  liberty  an 
ability  to  will  this  (n.  75[i]). 

EMBRYO.— In  every  human  embryo  the  Lord  forms  two  receptacles,  one  for  the 
Divine  love  and  the  other  for  the  Divine  wisdom ;  a  receptacle  of  the 
Divine  love  for  the  future  will  of  the  man,  and  a  receptacle  of  the  Di- 
vine wisdom  for  his  future  understanding  (n.  324[n]). 

EMERODS.—  The  "  emerods  "  with  which  the  Philistines  were  smitten  signified 
natural  loves,  which  are  unclean  when  separated  from  spiritual  love: 
and  the  "golden  emerods"  signified  spiritual  loves  purified  and  made 
good  (n.  326[i2]). 

END.— There  are  everywhere  three  things  together  that  make  one;  these  are 
called  end,  cause,  and  effect  (n.  108[i]).  As  end  conjoins  itself  with  the 
cause,  and  through  the  cause  with  the  effect,  so  does  the  life's  love  con- 
join itself  with  the  internal  of  thought,  and  through  this  with  its  exter- 
nal (n.  103|>]).  The  end  imparts  itself  wholly  to  the  cause,  and  through 
the  cause  to  the  effect  (n.  1Q8[2]).  There  is  nothing  essential  in  the  effect 
except  what  is  in  the  cause,  and  through  the  cause  in  the  end  (n.  108[2]). 
As  the  end  is  the  very  essential  which  enters  into  the  cause  and  the 
effect,  cause  and  effect  are  called  mediate  and  outmost  ends  (n.  108[2]). 
He  that  seeks  an  end  seeks  the  means  also  (n.  331  [3]).  The  operation 
and  progress  of  the  end  for  the  sake  of  which  the  universe  was  created 
through  means,  in  what  is  called  the  Divine  providence  (n.  331[i]).  The 
Lord  is  willing  that  a  man  should  think  and  talk  about  Divine  things 
provided  the  end  is  to  see  the  truth  (n.  2l9[s]).  The  end  of  the  Divine 
providence  (n.  16,  27,  45).  The  end  in  creation  (n.  27[2],  45,  323,  332[i]). 
Secondary  ends  of  creation  (n.  332[i]).  (See  CAUSE,  EFFECT.) 

ENGLAND. — The  teaching  in  the  churches  to  those  who  are  coining  to  the  Lord's 
supper  (n.  258[s]). 

ENGLISH.— Of  those  who  do  not  suffer  themselves  to  be  compelled  (in  respect  to 
religion)  there  are  many  of  the  English  nation  (n.  136U]).  The  English 
hold  the  doctrine  of  faith  alone,  and  yet  in  their  exhortation  to  the  holy 
communion  they  plainly  teach  self-examination,  acknowledgment, 
confession  of  sins,  repentance  and  renewal  of  life  (n.  114[i]). 

ENJOYMENT  (jucundum).—  Man  is  in  the  enjoyment  of  self-love,  and  that  en- 
joyment constitutes  his  very  life  (n.  186).  Every  enjoyment  that  man 
has  is  from  his  love;  no  enjoyment  is  possible  from  any  other  source  (n. 
73[2]).  Every  enjoyment  and  pleasure,  and  therefore  every  thing  of  the 
will,  is  from  affection,  which  belongs  to  love  (n.  76[i]).  The  enjoyments 
of  good  are  what  are  called  goods  of  charity  (n.  145[2]).  Acting  from 
love's  enjoyment  is  acting  from  freedom  (n.  73[2]).  Acting  from  an 


INDEX  551 

enjoyment  of  love  is  acting  from  freedom;  and  since  reason  favors  the 
love  this  is  also  acting  in  accordance  with  reason  (n.  85).  There  are  two 
kinds  of  enjoyments,  enjoyments  of  the  understanding  and  enjoyments 
of  the  will  ;  those  of  the  understanding  are  also  enjoyments  of  wisdom, 
and  those  of  the  will  are  also  enjoyments  of  love  (n.  136[5]).  The  life's 
love  has  its  delight,  and  the  wisdom  thereof  has  its  enjoyment  (n.  195[i]). 
The  varieties  of  delight  and  enjoyment  constitute  man's  life  (n.  195[i]). 
Vital  heat  is  from  the  delights  of  the  affections  and  from  the  enjoyment 
of  the  perceptions  and  thoughts  (n.  195[2]).  External  enjoyments  allure 
the  internal  to  consent  and  love  (n.  136[i]).  Enjoyments  direct  the 
thoughts  and  banish  reflection  (n.  113).  After  death,  when  they  have 
become  spirits,  the  evil  are  incapable  of  any  other  enjoyment  than  that 
which  they  had  in  spirit  while  in  the  world;  and  that  enjoyment  is  the 
enjoyment  of  internal  love  which  is  then  turned  into  what  is  undelight- 
fiil,  painful,  and  terrible;  and  this  is  what  is  meant  in  the  Word  by 
"torment"  and  "hell"  (n.  83[3]).  Enjoyments  of  infernal  spirits  (n. 
340[5]).  Lusts  with  their  enjoyments  block  the  way  and  close  the  doors 
before  the  Lord  (n.  33[2]).  (See  DELIGHTS.) 

ENLIGHTEN.  >  —Man  is  taught  by  the  Lord  by  means  of  enlightenment, 

ENLIGHTENMENT.  )  because  teaching  and  enlightenment  are  predicated  only 
of  wisdom  and  the  understanding  (n.  165).  There  is  an  interior  and  an 
exterior  enlightenment  from  the  Lord,  and  there  is  an  interior  and  an 
exterior  enlightenment  from  man  (n.  168[ij).  By  interior  enlighten- 
ment from  the  Lord  a  man  perceives  at  the  first  hearing  whether  what 
is  said  is  true  or  not  true.  Exterior  enlightenment  is  from  this  in  the 
thought  (n.  168[i]).  Interior  enlightenment  from  man  is  from  mere 
confirmation;  and  exterior  enlightenment  from  man  is  from  mere 
knowledge  (n.  168[i]).  There  is  another  kind  of  enlightenment,  by 
which  it  is  revealed  to  man  in  what  faith  and  what  intelligence  and  wis- 
dom he  is  (n.  170).  The  enlightenment  of  Swedenborg  (n.  135).  Since 
the  last  judgment,  that  is,  now,  every  man  who  wishes  to  be  enlightened 
and  to  be  wise  can  be  (n.  263[s]). 

ENMITY.—"  The  enmity  put  between  the  serpent  and  the  woman  and  between 
the  seed  of  the  serpent  and  the  seed  of  the  woman  "  (Gen.  iii.  15)  is  be- 
tween the  love  belonging  to  man's  own  and  the  Lord,  and  thus  between 
man's  own  prudence  and  the  Lord's  Divine  providence  (n.211[i]).  Man's 
own  has  an  inborn  enmity  against  the  Divine  providence  (n.  211[i]). 

ENTHUSIASTIC  SPIRITS. — Diabolical  visions  have  sometimes  appeared,  induced 
by  enthusiastic  and  visionary  spirits,  who  from  the  delirium  that  pos- 
sessed them  called  themselves  the  Holy  Spirit  (n.  134a[s]).  Those  who 
are  taught  by  influx  what  to  believe  or  what  to  do  are  not  taught  by  the 
Lord  or  by  any  angel  of  heaven,  but  by  some  enthusiastic  spirit,  Quaker 
or  Moravian,  and  are  led  astray  (n.  321[3]). 

EQUILIBRIUM  between  heaven  and  heft  (n.  23).  In  this  equilibrium  every  man 
is  held  as  long  as  he  lives  in  the  world,  and  by  means  of  it  he  is  held  in 
freedom  to  think,  to  will,  to  speak,  and  to  do;  and  in  this  it  is  possible 
for  him  to  be  reformed  (n.  23).  Those  who  have  joined  evil  and  falsity 
in  themselves  made  of  service  for  the  conjunction  of  good  and  truth  in 
others  (n.  22). 

ERROR  OP  THK  AGE,  to  believe  that  evils  have  been  separated  from  man,  and 
even  cast  out.  when  they  have  been  remitted  (n.  279[i]);  that  the  state  of 
a  man's  life  can  be  changed  instantly,  and  thus  from  being  evil  man 
can  become  good  (n.  279UJ) ;  that  when  sins  have  been  remitted  they  are 
removed  (n.  280[i]). 

ESSE  is  nothing  apart  from  existere  (a.  ll[i]).  Love  is  the  being  (esse)  of  a  thing 
(n.  ll[i]).  (See  EXISTERE.) 

ESSENCE.— There  is  an  only  essence  from  which  has  come  all  the  essences  that 
have  been  created.  That  only  essence  is  the  Divine  love  and  the  Divine 
wisdom  (n.  157li]).  The  Divine  essence  is  pure  love,  and  it  is  this  that 
works  by  means  of  the  Divine  wisdom  (n.  337). 


552  THE  DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

ESSENTIALS.— There  are  three  essentials  of  the  church,  an  acknowledgment  ot 
the  Divine  of  the  Lord,  an  acknowledgment  of  the  holiness  of  the  Word, 
and  the  life  that  is  called  charity  (n.  289(3]).  There  are  two  things  that 
are  at  once  the  essentials  and  the  universals  of  religion,  namely,  ac- 
knowledgment of  God  and  repentance  (n.  340[2]). 

ETERNAL.— The  image  of  the  Infinite  and  Eternal  is  in  man  exclusively  in  the 
marriage  of  good  and  truth  (n.  58).  The  Infinite  and  Eternal,  that  is, 
the  Divine,  is  not  in  time  (n.  59).  An  image  of  the  Infinite  and  Eternal 
is  presented  in  the  angelic  heaven  (n.  62).  The  angels  understand  by  the 
Infinite  nothing  else  than  the  Divine  being  (esse),  and  by  the  Eternal  the 
Divine  manifestation  (existere)  (n.  48[i]).  Eternal  things  relate  to  spirit- 
ual honors  and  possessions,  which  pertain  to  love  and  wisdom  in  heaven 
(n.  216).  (See  INFINITE,  IMAGE.) 

ETERNAL  LIFE.— Difference  between  immortality  and  eternal  life  (n.  96(7]). 

ETHER.— Varieties  in  sight  would  be  impossible  unless  the  ether  in  its  laws  and 
the  eye  in  its  form  were  constant  (n.  190|>]). 

EUROPE.— The  Christian  religion  is  accepted  only  in  the  smaller  division  of  the 
habitable  globe,  Europe,  and  is  there  divided  (n.  256). 

EVE.— The  condemnation  of  Eve  signifies  the  condemnation  of  the  voluntary 
self  (proprlum)  (n.  313[3]).  (See  ADAM.) 

EVIL  AND  FALSITY.— Every  evil  and  falsity  is  from  hell  (n.  321U]).  Evil  cannot 
exist  without  its  falsity  (n.  233[i]).  Evil  from  its  delight  and  falsity  from 
its  enjoyment  may  be  called,  and  may  be  believed  to  be,  good  and  truth 
(n.  195[s]).  Evil  is  confirmed  by  means  of  fallacies  and  appearances 
•which  become  falsities  when  they  are  confirmed  (n.  87).  That  is  evil  to 
a  man  that  destroys  the  delight  of  his  affection,  and  that  is  falsity  that 
destroys  the  enjoyment  of  his  thought  therefrom  (n.  195[s]).  Evil  and 
falsity  that  are  together  are  made  serviceable  in  the  way  of  equilibrium, 
of  relation,  and  of  purification,  and  thus  in  the  conjunction  of  good  and 
truth  in  others  (n.  21). 

EVIL  (HEREDITARY)  (see  HEREDITARY). 

EVIL  is  the  delight  of  the  lust  of  acting  and  thinking  contrary  to  Divine  order 
(11.  279[s]).  There  are  myriads  of  lusts  that  enter  into  and  compose 
every  single  evil  (n.  279[s]).  In  every  evil  there  are  things  innumerable 
(n.  296[i]).  Because  they  do  not  do  them  outwardly  many  are  not  aware 
that  they  are  in  evils  (n.  117).  All  cleansing  from  evils  is  from  the  Lord 
(n.  151[2]).  Evil  can  be  confirmed  as  easily  as  good  (n.  87).  Evils  that 
have  been  appropriated  cannot  be  eliminated,  but  may  be  removed  from 
the  centre  to  the  circumference  (n.  79).  An  evil  man  is  hell  in  the  least 
form  (n.  296[i]).  The  love  of  self  and  love  of  the  world  are  as  fountains 
from  which  are  evils  of  every  kind  (n.  S3[>]).  Evil  and  the  devil  are  one  (n. 
33[3]).  Its  own  punishment  follows  every  evil  (n.  249[s]).  It  is  better  for 
a  man  to  be  in  evil  and  in  falsity  at  the  same  time  than  to  be  in  good 
and  in  evil  at  the  same  time  (n.  16).  Evils  cannot  be  prevented  by  any 
providence;  the  reason  (n.  251[i]).  Evils  are  permitted  for  the  end, 
which  is  salvation  (n.  2491s],  231).  All  who  lead  an  evil  life  interiorly  ac- 
knowledge nature  and  human  prudence  only  (n.  205).  There  is  inherent 
in  all  evil  a  hatred  of  good  (n.  233[>]).  Evil  cannot  be  taken  away  from 
any  one  until  it  becomes  evident,  and  is  seen  and  acknowledged  (n.  1830], 
277li]).  Unless  evils  were  permitted  to  break  out  man  would  not  see 
them  (n.  251[i]).  Except  evils  in  the  external  man  are  put  away  no  exit 
is  open  for  the  lusts;  for  they  are  shut  in  like  a  besieged  city  or  like  a 
closed  ulcer  (n.  113).  So  long  as  evils  continue  in  the  lusts  of  their  love 
and  the  consequent  enjoyment,  there  is  no  faith,  charity,  piety,  or  wor- 
ship, except  in  mere  externals  (n.  84[s]).  The  evils  pertaining  to  the 
lusts  of  a  man's  life's  love  are  not  felt  as  evils  but  as  delight  (n.  296[g]). 
Evils  that  are  not  removed  are  like  fire  in  wood  covered  with  ashes,  or 
like  matter  in  a  wound  that  is  not  opened  (n.  27.^5]).  With  an  evil  man 
no  separation,  purification,  and  withdrawal  is  possible,  except  of  the 
more  noxious  evils  from  the  less  noxious  (n.  296[i2]).  So  far  as  evils  are 


INDEX  553 

removed  they  are  remitted  (a.  279[i]).  The  evil  are  continually  leading 
themselves  into  evils,  but  the  Lord  is  continually  leading  them  away 
from  evils  (n.  295).  No  evil  can  be  removed  except  by  successive  steps 
(u.  279[i]).  The  evil  who  are  in  the  world  the  Lord  governs  in  hell  in 
respect  to  their  interiors,  but  not  in  respect  to  their  exteriors  (n.  307[2]). 
The  Divine  providence  with  the  evil  is  a  continual  permission  of  evil,  to 
the  end  that  there  may  be  a  continual  withdrawal  from  it  (n.  296|j]).  The 
withdrawal  from  evil  is  effected  by  the  Lord  in  a  thousand  ways,  and 
even  m  most  secret  ways  (n.  296[io]).  Those  who  give  no  thought  to  the 
evils  in  themselves,  that  is,  do  not  examine  themselves  and  afterwards 
refrain  from  evils,  must  needs  be  ignorant  of  what  evil  is  (n.  1()1[2]).  (See 

EVIL  AND  FALSITY,   HEREDITARY.) 

EXALTATION  in  respect  to  affection  would  not  be  possible  unless  man  had  from 
rationality  an  ability  to  raise  the  understanding,  and  from  liberty  an 
ability  to  will  this  (u.  75Li]). 

EXAMINATION  (SELF),  what  it  is  (n.  278).  No  one  can  be  reformed  unless  he  ex- 
amines himself,  sees  and  acknowledges  his  evils,  and  afterwards  refrains 
from  them  (n.  152).  Not  only  the  external  but  also  the  internal  must  be 
examined  (n.  152).  If  the  external  only  is  examined  a  man  sees  only 
what  he  has  actually  done  (n.  152).  One  cannot  be  reformed  unless  the 
evils  of  the  spirit  are  examined  (n.  152).  By  the  examination  of  the  in- 
ternal man  the  external  man  is  essentially  examined  (n.  152).  Those 
who  do  not  examine  themselves  and  alterwards  refrain  Irom  evils  must 
needs  be  ignorant  of  what  evil  is  (n.  lOlbJ). 

EXISTERE  is  nothing  apart  from  esse  (n.  HLi]).    (See  ESSE.) 

EXPULSION.— "The  expulsion  from  the  garden  of  Eden  "  signifies  the  depriv- 
ation of  wisdom  (n.  313Ls]). 

EXTERNAL  (THE),  springs  from  the  internal,  and  consequently  has  its  essence 
from  the  internal  (n.  224[i]).  The  external  can  present  an  appearance 
not  in  accordance  with  its  essence  from  the  internal,  as  in  the  case  of 
hypocrites,  flatterers,  and  pretenders  (n.  224[i]).  The  external  man 
must  be  reformed  by  means  of  the  internal,  and  not  the  reverse  (n. 
150[i]).  The  appearance  is  that  the  external  flows  into  the  internal, 
when  the  contrary  is  true  (n.  150[a]).  The  external  of  man's  thought 
is  in  itself  of  the  same  character  as  its  internal  (n.  106[i]).  Externals 
are  so  connected  with  internals  as  to  make  one  in  every  operation 
(n.  180[2]).  If  man  does  not  shun  and  turn  away  from  evils  as  sins, 
not  only  does  the  external  of  the  thought  and  will  become  vitiated 
and  destroyed,  but  the  internals  of  them  at  the  same  time  (n.  180[s]). 

EYE  (THE),  in  the  spiritual  sejise  of  the  Word  means  the  understanding  (n. 
264[3]).  Sight  cannot  exist  apart  from  its  form,  which  is  the  eye  (n. 
279[6]).  In  the  spiritual  world,  where  all  are  spiritual  even  in  respect 
to  their  bodies,  each  one's  eyes  are  formed  to  see  from  their  light, 
not  being  able  to  see  in  any  other  (n.'167).  The  eye  does  not  see  from 
itself,  but  it  is  man's  mind  or  spirit  that  there  perceives  things  by  the 
sense  and  is  affected  by  the  sense  in  accordance  with  its  nature  (n. 
314[i]).  Man  knows  very  little  as  to  how  the  eye  sees  (n.  336,  174,  180). 
The  understanding  from  the  will  flows  into  the  eye,  and  not  only  makes 
that  sense  but  also  uses  it  as  its  instrument  in  the  natural  world  (n. 
314[i]).  The  eyes  correspond  to  wisdom  and  its  perceptions  (n.  29[2]). 
It  is  the  understanding  that  sees  in  the  eye  and  hears  in  the  ear,  and 
not  the  reverse  (n.  150[2]). 

FACE  (THE),  is  a  type  of  the  mind  (n.  56[2],  277a[2p.  In  the  spiritual  world 
every  one's  face  is  changed  and  becomes  like  his  affections,  so  that 
,  what  he  is  is  apparent  from  his  face  (n.  224[3]).  To  see  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence in  the  back,  and  not  in  the  face,  is  to  see  it  after  it  occurs  and 
not  before  (n.  187[i]).  Angels  constantly  turn  their  faces  to  the  Lord  as 
a  sun  (n.  29[3]).  When  a  man  turns  his  face  to  the  Lord  love  and  wis- 


554  THE  Vl^INE  TROWDENCE 

dom  are  given  him.  These  enter  man  by  the  face,  and  not  by  the  back 
of  the  neck  (n.  95;. 

FACULTY.— Every  man  possesses  the  faculty  to  will  that  is  called  liberty,  and  the 
faculty  to  understand  that  is  called  rationality ;  these  faculties  are  as  it 
were  innate  in  man,  for  his  human  itself  is  in  them  (n.  98[iJ).  Man  pos- 
sesses reason  and  freedom,  or  rationality  and  liberty,  and  these  two 
faculties  are  in  man  from  the  Lord  (n.  73Li]).  Unless  man  possessed  a 
will  from  the  faculty  that  is  called  liberty,  and  an  understanding  from  the 
faculty  that  is  called  rationality,  he  would  not  be  a  man  (n.  96(4]).  With- 
out these  two  faculties  man  could  not  be  conjoined  with  the  Lord,  and 
thus  could  not  be  reformed  and  regenerated  (n.  96[sJ).  Without  these 
two  faculties  man  could  not  have  immortality  and  eternal  life  (n.  96[;]). 
These  two  capacities  are  in  the  evil  as  well  as  in  the  good  (n.  15,  96(5],  99, 
285[i,2]).  The  Lord  preserves  these  two  faculties  in  man  unharmed  and 
as  sacred  in  the  whole  course  of  His  Divine  providence  (n.  96[i]).  The 
Lord  has  His  residence  in  every  man  in  these  faculties  (n.  96[sJ).  (See 
CAPACITY,  FREEDOM,  REASON,  LIBERTY,  RATIONALITY.) 

FAITH  separate  from  charity  (n.  264f3]);  is  the  only  obstacle  to  the  reception  of 
the  Christian  religion  (n.  265[ij).  Those  who  have  confirmed  themselves 
in  this  from  Paul's  saying  (Rom.  iii.  28)  (n.  115).  How  great  the  blindness 
that  has  been  induced  by  a  wrong  understanding  of  this  single- passage 
(n.  115).  Faith  induced  by  miracles  is  not  faith,  but  persuasion — it  is 
only  an  external  without  an  internal  (n.  131). 

FALLACIES  from  appearances  blind  the  understanding  (n.  175[2]).  Every  appear- 
ance confirmed  as  a  truth  is  a  fallacy  (n.  310[i]).  They  who  confirm 
themselves  by  fallacies  become  naturalists  (n.  310[i]).  Evil  is  confirmed 
by  means  of  fallacies,  and  appearances  which  become  fallacies  when 
confirmed  (n.  87).  Appearances  and  fallacies  (n.  213). 

FALSIFICATION.— He  that  upholds  false  principles  does  violence  to  Divine  truths, 
and  this  violence  is  called  falsification  of  truth  (n.  231  [3]).  In  the  Word 
falsifications  of  truth  are  depicted  by  whoredoms  (n.  233[io]).  These  are 
effected  by  reasonings  from  the  natural  man,  also  by  proofs  drawn  from 

the  appearances  of  the  sense  of  the  letter  of  the  Word  (n.  233[io]). (See 

WHOREDOMS.) 

FALSITY.— Falsity  not  of  evil  can  be  conjoined  with  good,  but  falsity  of  evil 
cannot.  Falsity  not  of  evil  is  falsity  in  the  understanding  and  not  in 
the  will;  while  falsity  of  evil  is  falsity  in  the  understanding  from  evil  in 
the  will  (n.  318[g]).  The  falsity  of  evil  and  "Satan"  are  one  (n.  331 3]). 
Falsity  is  confirmed  more  readily  than  the  truth  (n.  318[2]).  When  falsity 
has  been  confirmed  the  truth  is  not  seen,  but  from  confirmed  truth  fals- 
ity is  seen  (n.  318[sJ).  Evil  is  confirmed  by  means  of  fallacies,  and  by 
appearances  which  becomes  falsities  when  they  are  confirmed  (n.  87). 
That  is  called  falsity  to  a  man  that  destroys  the  enjoyment  of  his 
thought  from  his  affection  (n.  195[s]).  The  thoughts  belonging  to  the  de- 
lights belonging  to  the  lusts  of  evil  are  falsities  (n.  206[2]). 

FAMILIES  and  even  nations  are  distinguished  from  each  other  merely  by  the 
face  (n.  2Ha[2]). 

FANCY.— Nature  itself,  which  in  itself  is  dead,  inspires  the  fancy  with  insanities 
in  those  under  the  dominion  of  self-love  (n.  233[i2]). 

FAT  signifies  Divine  good  (n.  231[io]). 

FATHER.— The  Lord  is  the  heavenly  Father  of  all  men.  and  men  are  His  spirit- 
ual children  (n.  330[i]).  The  Lord  alone  is  the  Father  in  respect  to  the 
life;  the  earthly  father  is  the  father  only  in  respect  to  the  life's  covering, 
which  is  the  body  (n.  330[i]). 

FAULT  (see  BLAME). 

FAVOR.— The  natural  by  itself  favors  falsities  and  evils.  Favoring  evils  and  fals- 
ities is  not  in  accord  with  doing  good  (n.  14[2]). 

FEAR  (TO).— By  "fearing  God''  is  meant  fearing  to  offend  Him,  "offending 
God  "  meaning  to  sin.  This  fear  is  not  so  much  a  matter  of  fear  as  of 
love  (n.  140). 


INDEX  555 

FEAR.— In  its  true  sense  the  "  fear  of  God  "  is  nothing  else  than  fear  of  losing 
His  love  (n.  136L9J).  Who  they  are  who  have  the  i'eur  of  God  (n.  253).  No  one 
is  reformed  in  a  state  of  fear  (n.  139[i]).  Fear  can  in  no  wise  lake  pos- 
session of  the  internal  of  thought,  but  it  can  of  the  external  of  thought 
(n.  139[2]).  Various  kinds  of  fear,  a  fear  of  the  loss  of  honor  or  gain;  a 
fear  of  civil  punishments  (n.  139[sJ);  a  fear  of  infernal  punishments  (n. 
139U]).  Fear  closes  the  internal  from  above  against  influx  from  heaven 
(n.  139[6]).  Such  fear  takes  away  rationality  and  liberty,  and  is  a  hind- 
rance to  man's  ability  to  be  reformed  (n.  139[6]). 

FEEL.— Everything  that  a  man  feels  flows  in  (n.  308).  Man  knows  so  little  as  to 
amount  to  scarcely  anything  as  to  how  the  eye  sees,  the  ear  hears,  the 
nose  smells,  the  tongue  tastes,  and  the  skin  feels  (n.  336).  Why  the 
operation  of  the  Divine  providence  is  not  made  evident  to  man's  per 
ceptions  and  senses  (n.  175,  176). 

FKLICITIES  (see  HAPPINESSES). 

FERMENTATION.— Ferment  (leaven)  signifies  in  the  Word  the  falsity  of  evil  (n. 
284).  Spiritual  fermentations  are  effected  in  many  ways,  both  in  the 
heavens  and  on  the  earth  (n.  25).  There  are  evils  and  falsities  together 
that  do  a  work,  when  introduced  into  societies,  like  that  of  leaven  put 
into  meal,  or  ferment  into  new  wine,  by  which  heterogeneous  things  are 
separated  and  homogeneous  things  are  united,  and  purity  and  clearness 
are  the  result  (n.  25). 

FIBRES. — Every  man  in  hell  is  in  form  like  a  man,  though  monstrous,  in  which 
all  the  fibres  and  vessels  are  inverted  (n.  296[i]).  The  workings  of  both 
brains  into  fibres  and  of  fibres  into  muscles  and  of  muscle  into  action 
(n.  180[6]). 

FIERY  FLYING  SERPENT.— The  belief  in  instantaneous  salvation  out  of  pure 
mercy  is  the  "  tiery  flying  serpent"  in  the  church  (n.  3401s]).  The  "  fiery 
flying  serpent"  means  evil  glowing  from  infernal  fire  (n.  340). 

FIG  TREE  (see  LEAVES). 

FINITE.— What  the  Infinite  and  Eternal  is  the  finite  cannot  comprehend,  and 
yet  it  can  (n.  46,  53).  The  conjunction  between  the  Infinite  and  the  finite 
(n.  54).  How  the  finite  being  becomes  capable  of  containing  what  is  in- 
finite (n.  54).  By  things  finite  all  things  created  by  the  Divine,  especially 
men,  spirits,  and  angels  are  meant  (n.  52).  A  man  or  an  angel  is  finite 
and  purely  a  receptacle,  in  itself  dead ;  and  whatever  is  living  in  him  is 
from  the  Divine  going  forth  conjoined  with  him  by  contiguity,  and  ap- 
pearing to  him  as  if  it  were  his  (n.  57). 

FIRE.— Why  there  is  more  of  the  fire  and  ardor  of  doing  uses  in  love  of  self  and 
the  world  than  those  have  who  are  not  in  the  love  of  self  and  the  world 
(n.  2l5[i2j,  250(31,  252[a]). 

FIRSTS. — The  Lord  from  eternity,  or  Jehovah,  came  into  the  world  and  assumed 
Humanity  in  outmosts,  that  He  might  thus  from  firsts  through  outmosta 
rule  the  whole  world.  Why  the  Lord  is  called  "  The  First  and  the  Last" 
(n.  124[4j).  (See  ULTIMATES,  INMOSTS.) 

FLAME. — Some  in  the  spiritual  world  who  ascribed  all  things  to  their  own  prud- 
ence, when  instructed,  so  blazed  up  that  flame  appeared  from  their 
nostrils  (n,  309[i]). 

FLATTERERS  (n.  14,  89,  104,  224). 

FLESH.— Man  has  a  voluntary  self  (proprlum),  which  is  evil,  and  is  meant  by 
"the  will  of  the  flesh  "  in  John  i.  13  (n.  298[3l). 

FLOOD.— The  consummation  of  the  Most  Ancient  Church  is  described  in  the 
Word  by  the  "  flood  "  (n.  328[s]). 

FLOW  IN  (TO).— No  part,  whatever  of  the  plan  or  preparation  (of  successful  war) 
is  from  (man)  himself;  it  all  flows  in  either  from  heaven  or  from  hell— 
from  hell  by  permission,  from  heaven  by  providence  (n.  251[6]).  Every 
thing  of  thought  and  affection,  even  with  the  spirits  of  hell,  flows  in  out 
of  heaven;  but  that  this  inflowing  good  is  there  turned  into  evil  and  this 
truth  into  falsity,  thus  every  thing  into  its  opposite  (n.  288,  294[6],  307[i]). 
The  natural  does  not  flow  into  the  spiritual,  but  the  spiritual  flows  into 


556  THE  <D/F/Ar£   TROflDENCE 

the  natural  (n.  314[i]).  Every  thing  that  a  man  thinks,  and  wills,  and 
speaks,  and  does  therefrom  flows  in  from  one  fountain  of  life  (n.  292). 
All  evil  with  its  falsity  flows  in  from  hell,  and  all  good  with  its  truth 
flows  in  from  the  Lord  (n.  312[4]). 

FLOWERS.— Man's  initiation  into  the  marriage  of  good  and  truth,  that  is,  the 
spiritual  marriage,  is  like  the  blossoms  that  the  tree  brings  forth  in  the 
spring  time;  spiritual  truths  are  the  petals  of  these  flowers  (n.  332[s]). 
FORCED  (see  COMPEL). 

FOREHEAD.— The  Lord's  look  is  upon  the  forehead,  because  the  forehead  corre- 
sponds to  love  and  the  affections  (n.  29b]). 

FOREKNOWLEDGE.— Knowledge  of  future  events  is  not  granted  to  man;  the 
reason  (n.  178Li]).  As  a  knowledge  of  future  events  takes  away  the 
human  itself,  which  is  to  act  from  freedom  in  accordance  with  reason,  a 
knowledge  of  the  future  is  granted  to  no  one  (n.  279[i]). 

FORESIGHT  (THE)  of  the  Lord  is  like  His  Divine  providence,  continual;  one  does 
not  exist  without  the  other  (n.  67,  333).  Without  the  Lord's  foresight 
and  providence  together  neither  heaven  nor  hell  would  be  anything  but 
confusion  (n.  333[2]).  The  Lord's  foresight  has  provided  for  every  one 
his  place  (n.  333[2]).  (See  FUTURE.) 

FORM.— There  is  an  only  form  from  which  has  come  air  the  forms  that  have  been 
created  (n.  157[2]).  Every  form  turns  into  its  own  Duality  that  which 
flows  into  it  (n.  327,  160).  Every  form,  the  general  and  the  particular,  or 
the  universal  and  the  special,  by  wonderful  conjunction  act  as  one  (n. 
180[4]).  Whatever  has  existence  derives  from  form  that  which  is  called 
quality,  and  that  which  is  called  predicate,  also  that  which  is  called 
change  of  state,  alsa  that  which  is  called  relativity,  and  the  like  (n.  40]). 
The  form  makes  a  one  the  more  perfectly  as  the  things  entering  into  trie 
form  are  distinctly  different  and  yet  united  (n.  4[4J).  The  form  of  a 
heavenly  society  is  more  perfect  in  proportion  as  each  angel  is  more 
distinctly  his  own,  and  therefore  free  (n.  4(4]).  The  form  of  heaven  (n. 
61).  The  form  of  heaven  is  perfected  to  eternity  according  to  the  in- 
crease of  numbers,  for  the  greater  the  number  of  those  that  enter  into 
the  form  of  the  Divine  love,  which  is  the  form  of  forms,  the  more  perfect 
the  unity  becomes  (n.  62).  Changes  and  variations  of  state  and  form  in 
the  organic  substances  of  the  mind,  which  are  affections  and  thoughts, 
cannot  be  shown  to  the  eye  (n.  279[8]).  Form  of  the  rule  of  the  life's~love 
(n.  107).  (See-  SUBSTANCE.) 

To  FORM.— Every  thing  of  the  understanding  and  will  must  be  formed  by 

means  of  what  is  external  before  it  is  formed  by  the  means  of  what  is 
internal;  since  every  thing  of  the  understanding  and  will  is  first  formed 
by  means  of  what  enters  through  the  senses  of  the  body,  especially 
through  the  sight  and  hearing  (n/136[7]). 

FORTUNE.— Can  the  cause  have  any  other  possible  source  than  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence in  outmosts,  when  by  constancy  and  by  change  it  deals  wonder- 
fully with  human  prudence  and  yet  conceals  itself  ?  (n.  212|il).  As  the 
Divine  providence  is  in  the  least  particulars  of  things  insignificant  and 
trifling,  still  more  is  it  in  the  least  particulars  of  things  not  insignifican 
and  trifling,  as  the  affairs  of  peace  and  war  in  the  world,  or  of  salvation 
and  life  in  heaven  (n.  212[2],  251[61).  The  successes  and  favorable  occur- 
rences of  war  are  called  in  common  language  the  fortune  of  war;  and 
this  is  Divine  providence,  especially  in  "the  plans  and  preparations  of 
the  general,  even  although  he  then  and  afterwards  may  ascribe  it  all  to 
his  own  prudence  (n.  251[6]).  The  heathen  formerly  acknowledged  Fort 
tune  and  built  her  a  temple ;  so  also  the  Italians  at  Rome  (n.  212[2]).  (See- 
ACCIDENTAL.) 

FOUNTAIN.— The  Lord  is  the  one  fountain  of  life  (n.  292).  All  the  worship  of  the 
ancients  was  representative,  therefore  they  consecrated  fountains  (n. 
255[2]). 

FOXES.— Thpy  who  are  in  their  own  prudence  are  like  wolves  and  foxes  (n. 
311131). 


INDEX  557 

FRAGRAXT.—  Good  is  in  itself  fragrant  (n.  305). 

FRAUDS,  their  source,  and  why  permitted  (n.  2760]). 

FREEDOM.— Freedom  is  a  property  of  love,  insomuch  that  love  and  freedom  are 
one.  And  as  love  is  the  lite  of  man,  freedom  ali-o  belongs  to  his  life  (n. 
73[2]).  Freedom,  like  love,  is  inseparable  from  willing  (n.  89).  There  is 
infernal  freedom  and  there  is  heavenly  freedom  (n.  43).  What  one 
thinks,  speaks,  and  does  from  each  (n.  43).  Whatever  a  man  thinks, 
wills,  speaks,  and  does  from  freedom  seems  to  him  to  be  his  own  (n.  43, 
176).  There  cannot  be  two  kinds  of  freedom,  in  themselves  opposite,  and 
each  freedom  in  itself  (n.  43).  The  freedom  of  sin  is  infernal  freedom, 
and  in  itself  bondage;  and  from  this  to  see  heavenly  freedom,  which  is 
freedom  itself,  is  like  seeing  day  when  immersed  in  thick  darkness,  or 
like  seeing  what  is  from  the  sun  above  when  covered  by  a  dark  cloud, 
(n.  149).  the  difference  between  heavenly  freedom  and  infernal  freedom 
is  like  that  between  what  is  alive  and  what  is  dead  (n.  149).  There  are 
many  kinds  of  freedom,  but  in  general  three,  natural,  rational,  and 
spiritual  (n.  73[2]). 

NATURAL  FREEDOM  every  one  has  by  inheritance.  From  it  a  man 

loves  nothing  but  self  and  the  world  ;  his  first  life  is  nothing  else.  Think- 
ing and  willing  evils  is  man's  natural  freedom,  and  when  he  has  con- 
firmed evils  in  himself  by  reasonings  he  does  evils  from  freedom  in 
accordance  with  his  reason,  thus  from  his  faculty  that  is  called  liberty 
It  is  from  the  Lord's  Divine  providence  that  man  is  peiynitted  to  do  this 
Man  is  in  this  kind  of  freedom  by  nature  because  by  inheritance;  and  all 
those  are  in  it  who  by  means  of  reasonings  have  confirmed  it  in  them- 
selves from  the  enjoyment  of  the  love  of  self  and  the  world  (n.  73(3,4]). 

RATIONAL  FREEDOM  is  from  the  love  of  reputation  with  a  view  to  honor 

or  gain.  The  enjoyment  of  this  love  lies  in  appearing  external!}- as  a 
moral  man ;  and  because  man  loves  such  a  reputation  he  does  not  de- 
fraud, commit  adultery,  take  revenge,  or  blaspheme;  and  because  he 
makes  this  a  matter  of  reason  he  acts  from  freedom  in  accordance  with 
his  reason  in  sincere,  just,  chaste,  and  friendly  ways;  and  from  his 
reason  he  can  advocate  such  conduct ;  still  the  good  deeds  that  he  does 
are  not  in  themselves  good.  His  freedom  derives  nothing  from  a  love 
for  the  public  welfare,  neither  does  his  reason,  since  this  assents  to  his 
love.  Consequently  this  rational  freedom  is  a  more  internal  natural 
freedom.  This  freedom,  too,  by  the  Lord's  Divine  providence  remains 
with  every  one  (n.  73[s]). 

—  SPIRITUAL  FREEDOM  is  from  a  love  for  eternal  life.  Into  that  love  and  its 
enjoyments  no  one  comes  except  he  that  thinks  evils  to  be  sins  and  in 
consequence  does  not  will  them,  and  at  the  same  time  looks  to  the 
Lord.  At  first  such  a  freedom  does  not  seem  to  be  freedom,  and  yet  it 
is.  This  freedom  increases  as  natural  freedom  decreases  and  becomes 
subservient;  and  it  conjoins  itself  with  rational  freedom  and  purifies  it 
(n.  73[6]).  Any  one  may  come  into  this  freedom  if  he  is  but  willing,  be 
cause  he  has  rationality  and  liberty,  and  the  Lord  continually  gives  the 
ability  (n.  73[7]).  Those  M'ho  are  in  a  love  of  evil  have  no  other  percep- 
tion than  that  infernal  freedom  is  freedom  itself;  while  those  who  are  in 
a  love  of  good  perceive  that  heavenly  freedom  is  freedom  itself,  and 
consequently  its  opposite  is  slavery,  both  to  the  good  and  to  the  evil  (n. 
43).  To  be  led  by  good  is  freedom,  and  to  be  led  by  evil  is  slavery,  be- 
cause to  be  led  by  good  is  to  be  led  by  the  Lord,  and  to  be  led  by  evil 
is  to  be  led  by  the  devil  (n.  43).  Every  man  wishes  to  be  free.  All  who 
willingly  serve  for  the  sake  of  liberty  compel  themselves,  and  when 
they  compel  themselves  they  act  from  freedom  in  accordance  with  rea- 
son, but  from  an  interior  freedom  from  which  exterior  freedom  is  looked 
upon  as  a  servant  (n.  148).  It  is  a  law  of  the  Divine  providence  that  man 
should  act  from  freedom  in  accordance  with  reason;  the  freedom  that  is 
here  meant  is  spiritual  freedom  ana  not  natural  freedom,  except  when 
the  two  are  one  (n.  71,  176).  Man  cau-aot  be  conjoined  with  the  Lord 


558  THE  TtiyiNE  TROflDENCE 


and  thus  reformed,  regenerated,  and  saved  unless  it  is  permitted  him  to 
act  from  freedom  in  accordance  with  reason  (n.  12814],  W).  To  act  from 
freedom  in  accordance  with  reason,  to  act  from  liberty  and  rationality, 
and  to  act  from  the  will  and  the  understanding,  are  tlie  same  thing;  but 
it  is  one  thing  to  act  from  freedom  ia  accordance  with  reason,  or  to  act 
from  liberty  and  rationality,  and  it  is  another  tiling  to  act  from  freedom 
itself  in  accordance  with  reason  itself,  or  to  act  from  liberty  itself  and 
from  rationality  itself  (n.  97).  A  man  who  does  evil  from  the  love  of 
evil  and  confirms  that  evil  in  himself  acts  irorn  freedom  in  accordance 
with  reason;  but  his  freedom  is  not  in  itself  freedom,  but  is  an  infernal 
freedom;  and  his  reason  is  not  in  itself  reason,  but  is  a  spurious  or  false 
reason  (n.  97).  Man  has  freedom  of  reason  by  his  being  midway  between 
heaven  and  the  world,  and  by  his  ability  to  think  from  heaven  or  from 
the  world  (n.  142).  Only  such  as  have  suffered  themselves  to  be  regener- 
ated by  the  Lord  act  from  freedom  itself  in  accordance  with  reason 
itself;  all  others  act  from  freedom  in  accordance  with  thought,  to  which 
they  give  the  semblance  of  reason.  And  yet  every  man,  unless  born 
foolish  or  excessively  stupid,  is  able  to  attain  to  reason  itself,  and 
through  it  to  freedom  itself  (n.  98[i]).  Man  is  led  by  the  Lord  contin- 
ually in  freedom,  and  is  also  reformed  and  regenerated  in  freedom  (n. 
43).  (See  LIBERTY.) 

FREELY.—  To  will  freely  as  if  from  himself  is  from  a  faculty  continually  given 
him  by  the  Lord  that  is  called  liberty  (n.  96[2]).  So  long  as  enjoyment 
from  the  love  of  evil  rules,  man  is  not  able  to  will  freely  what  is  good 
and  true,  and  to  make  these  to  be  of  his  reason  (n.  85).  Every  man  can 
freely,  yea,  most  freely,  think  as  he  wishes  as  well  against  God  as  for 
God  ;  and  he  that  thinks  against  God  is  rarely  punished  in  the  natural 
world,  because  there  he  is  always  in  a  state  to  be  reformed  ;  but  he  is 
punished  after  death  in  the  spiritual  world,  for  he  can  there  no  longer 
be  reformed  (n.  249[i]). 

FRENCH  (THE)  called  a  noble  nation  (n.  257U]). 

FRIENDSHIP  (SPIRITUAL)  and  relationship,  how  shown  in  the  spiritual  world  (n. 
838U]). 

FRUCTIFICATIONS.—  Fructifications  and  multiplications  have  not  failed  from  the 
beginning  of  creation,  nor  will  ever  fail  to  eternity  (n.  56[s]).  Affections 
may  be  fructified  and  perceptions  multiplied  without  end  (n.  57).  This 
ability  to  fructify  and  multiply  without  end,  that  is,  infinitely  and  eter- 
nally, men  have  in  natural  things,  the  spiritual  angels  in  spiritual  things 
and  the  celestial  angels  in  celestial  things  (n.  57). 

FRUITS.—  Spiritual  goods,  which  are  the  goods  of  charity,  are  like  fruit;  and 
these  are  signified  by  "  fruit"  in  the  Word  (n.  3321s]).  The  primary  activ- 
ities of  the  spiritual  marriage  are  like  the  beginnings  of  the  fruit  (n.332[s]). 

FUTURE.  —  The  entire  future  is  to  the  Lord  the  present,  and  the  entire  present  is 
to  Him  the  eternal  (n.  333[3]).  A  knowledge  of  the  future  is  granted  to 
no  one;  nevertheless  every  one  is  permitted  to  form  conclusions  about 
the  future  from  reason  (n.  179|.i]).  A  longing  to  know  things  future  is 
innate  with  most  people;  but  this  longing  has  its  origin  in  a  love  of 
evil,  and  is  therefore  taken  way  from  those  who  believe  in  the  Divine 
providence  (n.  179[i]).  (See  FORESIGHT.) 

GANGRENE.—  Evils  if  prevented  by  any  providence  would  remain  shut  in,  and 

like  the  diseases  calk-d  cancer  and  gangrene,  would  spread  and  con- 

sume all  that  is  vital  in  man  (n.  251[ij). 
GARDEN.—  "The  garden  of  Eden  "  signifies  the  wisdom  of  the  men  of  the  Most 

Ancient  Church  (n.  241,313[2l). 

GARMENTS  (WHITE)  signify  a  state  cleansed  from  evil  (n.  279fs]). 
GENERAL.—  A  general  thing  exists  from  its  particulars  (n.  201[a]). 
GENERATION  (THE  ORGANS  OF)  in  either  sex  correspond  to  societies  of  the  in- 

most heaven  (n.  144(3]). 
GENHSIS.—  The  learned  try  to  explain  the  contents  of  the  first  chapter,  and  at 


INDEX  559 

length  confess  that  they  do  not  understand  it.  The  new  creation  itself, 
that  is,  the  regeneration  of  the  man  of  the  Most  Ancient  Church,  is  de- 
scribed therein  (n.  241[i,2]). 

GENII.— The  most  cunning  sensual  men  are  called  Genii.  Their  hell  described 
(n.  31014]).  Those  that  have  done  good  and  have  believed  it  to  be  from 
themselves,  if  after  death  they  do  not  receive  the  truth,  mingle  with  in- 
fermil  genii  and  at  length  come  to  be  one  with  them  (n.  93). 

GENTILES.— The  human  race  is  ten  times  more  numerous  in  Mohammedan  and 
Gentile  lands  than  in  the  Christian  portion;  and  in  the  latter  there  are 
few  who  place  religion  in  life.  What  more  insane  belief,  then,  can  there 
be  than  to  hold  that  only  these  latter  are  saved  and  the  former  are 
damned,  and  that  man  gains  heaven  by  his  birth  and  not  by  his  life  ? 
(n.  33017J.)  All  that  have  lived  well  and  have  acknowledged  God  are  in- 
structed after  death  by  angels;  and  then  all  those  that  had  been,  while 
they  lived  in  the  world,  in  the  two  essentials  of  religion  accept  the 
truths  of  the  church  such  as  they  are  in  the  Word,  and  acknowledge  the 
Lord  as  the  God  of  heaven  and  of  the  church  (n.  328[8J).  A  Gentile 
thinks  about  God  from  religion  in  his  life  more  than  a  Christian  does  (n. 
322151). 

GERMANS  (THE).— What  the  Germans  teach  in  their  exhortation  to  the  holy  com- 
munion (n.  114[i]). 

GLOTTIS,  its  functions  (n.  27918]). 

GOATS.— By  "  goats  "  in  the  Word  are  meant  those  who  separate  faith  from 
charity  (n.  258[i]).  By  the  "goats"  spoken  of  by  the  Lord  in  Matt.  xxv. 
32-46  are  meant  such  as  neglect  to  think  about  evil,  and  because  of  this 
are  continually  in  evil  (n.  lOlfi]). 

GOD  is  one  in  person  and  essence,  in  whom  is  a  trinity,  and  the  Lord  is  that 
God  (n.  262[i]).  If  man  clearly  saw  the  Divine  providence,  either  he 
would  deny  God  or  he  would  make  himself  to  be  God  (n.  182[i]).  There 
are  some  who  have  arrogated  to  themselves  Divine  power  and  wish  to 
be  worshipped  as  gods  (n.  257U]).  (See  THE  LORD,  BABYLON.) 

GOOD  is  the  delight  of  the  affection  of  acting  and  thinking  in  accordance  with 
Divine  order  (n.  279[5]).  Myriads  of  affections  enter  into  and  compose 
every  single  good,  and  these  myriads  are  in  such  order  and  connection 
in  man's  interiors  that  no  one  can  be  changed  unless  at  the  same  time 
all  are  changed  (n.  279(5]).  There  is  inherent  in  all  good  a  love  of  pro- 
tecting itself  against  evil  and  of  separating  it  from  itself  (n.  233[2]).  By 
good  is  meant  that  which  universally  embraces  and  involves  all  tilings 
of  love  (n.  111.IJ).  What  is  good  apart  from  any  thing  ?  Can  it  be  called 
good,  since  no  affection  or  perception  can  be  predicated  of  it  ?  (n.  ll[i].) 
Every  good  is  called  good  from  its  delight  or  its  blessedness  (n.  324|6]>. 
Good  of  life,  or  living  rightly,  is  shunning  evils  because  they  are  against 
religion,  thus  against  God  (n.  326[8]).  Terms  good  and  truth  ol  good, 
also  evil  and  falsity  of  evil,  explained  (n.  233[i]).  Good  and  use  are  one 
(n.  233T5]). 

GOOD  AND  TRUTH.— All  things  in  the  universe  have  relation  to  good  and  truth 
and  to  their  conjunction.  Good  belongs  to  love  and  truth  to  wisdom; 
for  love  calls  all  that  pertains  to  it  good,  and  wisdom  calls  all  that  per- 
tains to  it  truth  (n.  5[>]).  Every  one  calls  that  good  which  from  the  love 
of  his  will  lie  feels  to  be  delightful;  and  he  calls  that  truth  which  from 
the  wisdom  .of  his  understanding  he  perceives  to  be  enjoyable  therefrom 
(n.  195[2]).  Good  is  nothing  apart  from  truth,  and  truth  is  nothing  apart 
from  good  (n.  ll[i],  13).  After  death  every  one  must  be  both  in  good  and 
in  truth  or  must  be  both  in  evil  and  in  falsity  (n.  18).  In  angels  of 
heaven  and  in  men  on  earth  good  is  good  in  itself  only  so  far  as  it  has 
become  one  with  truth;  and  truth  is  truth  in  itself  only  so  far  as  it  has 
become  one  with  good  (n.  10).  Good  is  not  in  the  least  good  except  so 
far  as  it  has  become  one  with  its  truth,  and  that  truth  is  not  in  the  least 
truth  except  so  far  as  it  has  become  one  with  good  (n.  13).  Every  good 
and  truth  is  from  the  Lord  (n.  321[4]).  Good  cannot  exist  apart  from  its 


560  THE  VIYINE  'PROVIDENCE 

truth,  nor  evil  apart  from  its  falsity ;  for  they  are  bedfellows  or  consorts 
(n.  233]  i]).  Every  one's  good  is  that  which  is  delightful  to  his  affection ;  and 
truth  is  that  which  is  enjoyable  therefrom  to  his  thoughts  (n.  195[2]). 
Goods  and  truths  are  changes  and  variations  of  state  in  the  forms  of 
mind;  but  these  are  perceived  and  have  their  life  solely  by  means  of 
their  delights  and  enjoyments  (n.  195Ls]).  What  natural  truth  and  good 
are,  and  what  spiritual  truth  and  good  are  (n.  312[i]).  All  good  with  its 
truth  flows  in  from  the  Lord  (n.  312(4]). 

GOSPEL. — It  has  been  provided  by  the  Lord  that  those  who  could  not  be  reached 
by  the  Gospel,  but  only  by  a  religion,  should  also  be  able  to  have  a  place 
in  the  Divine  Man,  that  is,  in  heaven  (n.  254[i,3l). 

GOVERN. — The  Lord  governs  hell  by  means  of  opposites,  and  the  evil  who  are 
in  the  world  He  governs  in  hell,  in  respect  to  their  interiors,  but  not  in 
respect  to  their  exteriors  (n.  307).  (See  RULE.) 

GOVERNMENT.—  What  is  called  Divine  providence  is  the  government  of  the 
Lord's  Divine  love  and  Divine  wisdom  (n.  2).  The  Lord  governs  every 
least  particular,  in  an  evil  man  as  well  as  in  a  good  man,  for  the  Lord's 
government  is  what  is  called  the  Divine  providence  (n.  285[2]). 

GOVERNMENTS  IN  HEAVEN. — There  are  governments  in  heaven,  and  consequently 
administrations  and  functions  (n.  217[sl).  (See  HEAVEN.) 

GRAFTING.— Man  is  a  corrupt  tree  from  the  seed ;  nevertheless  a  grafting  or  bud- 
ding with  shoots  taken  from  the  tree  of  life  is  possible,  whereby  the  sap 
drawn  from  the  old  root  is  turned  into  sap  forming  good  fruit  (n.  83214]). 
(See  INGRAFTED.) 

GRAIN.— Not  a  grain  of  will  or  of  prudence  that  is  his  own  is  possible  in  any 
man  (n.  293). 

GRANDFATHER.— Sometimes  the  features  of  a  grandfather  reappear  in  those  of  a 
grandson  or  a  great-grandson  (n.  277a[aj). 

GRAVEN  IMAGES  (see  IDOLS). 

GREAT  AND  RICH.— The  fate  of  most  of  those  who  have  become  great  and  rich 
in  the  natural  world,  and  in  this  regarded  themselves  only  (n.  185).  Both 
the  evil  and  the  good  are  exalted  to  honors  and  advanced  to  wealth  (n. 
217o[2J). 

GUARDING.— The  guarding  of  the  way  to  the  tree  of  life  (in  Gen.  iii.  24)  signifies 
the  Lord's  care  lest  the  holy  things  of  the  Word  and  the  church  be 
violated  (n.  313J3!). 

GUILTY.— If  a  man  knows  an  evil  and  does  not  shun  it  the  blame  is  imputed  to 
him,  and  he  becomes  guilty  of  that  evil  (n.  294[4]). 

HAIR.— A  "  hair  "  signifies  in  the  Word  the  least  of  all  things  (n.  159). 

HAPPINESSES.— The  happinesses  of  heaven  cannot  be  described  in  words,  al- 
though in  heaven  they  are  perceptible  to  the  feeling  (n.  39[i]).  These 
happinesses  enter  as  man  puts  away  the  lusts  of  the  love  of  evil  and 
falsity  as  if  of  himself  (n.  39[2]).  Happinesses  in  infinite  variety  are  in 
every  affection  for  good  and  truth,  especially  in  an  affection  for  wisdom 
(n.  39[2]).  Happinesses,  that  is,  beatitudes  and  pleasures,  are  exalted  as 
the  higher  degrees  of  the  mind  are  opened  (n.  37). 

HAPPY.— The  more  nearly  a  man  is  conjoined  with  the  Lord  the  happier  he  be- 
comes (n.  37) 

HARMONY.— Harmonies  of  sound  are  of  infinite  variety,  but-  they  would  be  im- 
possible unless  the  atmosphere  were  constant  in  their  laws  and  the  ears 
in  their  form  (n.  190[2]). 

HATREDS.— The  love  of  self  regards  every  one  as  its  servant,  or  as  its  enemy  if 
he  does  not  serve  it,  and  this  is  the  source  of  hatred  (n.  276|>]). 

HEADS.— "The  seven  heads  of  the  dragon  "  (Apoc.  xii.  3,  9)  signify  ci-aftiness  (n. 
310[5]).  "The  serpent's  head  "  (Gen.  iii.  15)  signifies  the  love  of  self  (n. 
211[iL  241[i]). 

HEAL.— How  the  Lord  heals  man  (n.  281[s]).  To  heal  the  understanding  alone  is 
to  heal  man  o  nly  from  without;  this  would  be  like  palliative  healing.  I 


t 

INDEX  561 

is  the  will  itself  that  must  be  healed  by  means  of  instruction  and  exhort- 
ation in  the  understanding  (n.  282).  The  Lord  heals  the  love  of  man's 
will,  first  by  means  of  fears,  and  afterwards  by  means  of  loves  (n.  283). 

HEAR.— Every  thing  that  a  man  hears  flows  in  (n.  308[2]).  Hearing  cannot  exist 
apart  from  its  form,  which  is  the  ear  (n.  279[6]). 

HEART  (THE),  means,  in  the  spiritual  sense,  affection  which  belongs  to  the  love 
or  will  (n.  80).  What  is  not  in  the  heart  perishes  in  the  understanding; 
the  "heart"  meaning  man's  love  (n.  172! 6]).  The  heart  and  lungs  in  the 
body  correspond  to  the  will  and  understanding  (n.  193[2J).  As  the  motion 
of  the  heart,  together  with  the  respiration  of  the  lungs,  governs  the 
whole  man  in  respect  to  his  body,  so  the  will  together  with 'the  under- 
standing governs  the  whole  man  in  respect  to  his  mind  (n.  1930]).  The 
natural  principle  of  life  is  the  heart's  pulsation,  and  the  spiritual  prin- 
ciple of  life  is  the  mind's  volition  (n.  193[2]).  The  heart  joins  with  itself 
the  lungs,  and  the  will  .joins  with  itself  the  understanding  (n.  193(2]). 
The  heart  collects  and  distributes  the  blood  (n.  336).  Functions  of  the 
heart  (n.  174,  279(7],  296(i4|). 

HEAT.— Spiritual  heat  and  spiritual  light  in  their  going  forth  from  the  Lord  as 
a  sun  make  one  (n.  4).  The  heat  in  the  spiritual  world  is  the  Divine  love 
going  forth  (n.  292(3]).  Analogy  between  the  effects  produced  by  spirit- 
ual heat  and  those  produced  by  natural  heat  (n.  292,  160).  Vital  heat  is 
from  the  delights  of  the  affections,  and  from  the  enjoyment  of  the  per- 
ceptions and  thoughts  (n.  195[2]). 

HEAVEN  is  from  the  human  race  (n.  27).  Heaven  is  not  the  same  thing  to  one 
as  to  another  (n.  281 1 ]).  Heaven  is  from  those  who  are  in  the  love  of 
good  and  consequent  understanding  of  truth  (n.  27[i]).  Heaven  is  an 
abiding  with  the  Lord  to  eternity  (n.  27[z]).  Heaven  from  the  human 
race  was  the  end  in  creation  and  the  end  of  His  Divine  providence  (n. 
27[2],  323).  Heaven  is  conjunction  with  the  Lord  (n.  28[i]).  It  is  not 
from  the  angels  but  from  the  Lord  that  heaven  is  heaven,  for  the  love 
and  wisdom  in  which  angels  are,  and  which  make  heaven,  are  not  from 
the  angels  but  from  the  Lord,  and  in  fact  are  the  Lord  in  them  (n.  28[i]). 
Heaven  is  in  the  human  form  (n.  204).  Heaven  in  the  complex  resembles 
a  single  man,  whose  life  or  soul  is  the  Lord.  In  that  heavenly  man  are 
all  things  that  are  in  a  natural  man,  with  a  difference  like  that  between 
heavenly  and  natural  things  (n.  326(9]).  The  entire  heaven  is  as  one  man 
before  the  Lord,  and  likewise  each  society  of  heaven,  and  it  is  from  this 
that  each  angel  is  a  man  in  complete  form  (n.  64,  124[2],  254[3]).  The 
entire  heaven  is  divided  into  two  kingdoms,  one  of  which  is  called  the 
celestial  kingdom,  the  other  the  spiritual  kingdom,  and  each  into  soci- 
eties without  number  (n.  217!s]).  Heaven  is  divided  into  as  many  general 
societies  as  there  are  organs,  viscera,  and  membranes  in  a  man,  and 
each  general  society  is  divided  into  as  many  less  general  or  particular 
societies  as  there  are  larger  divisions  in  each  of  the  viscera  and  organs 
(n.  65,  68).  The  entire  heaven  is  arranged  into  societies  according  to 
affections  of  good  (n.  278(6]).  No  one  becomes  an  angel,  that  is,  comes 
into  heaven,  unless  he  carries  with  him  from  the  world  what  is  angelic 
(n.  60).  Heaven  is  granted  only  to  those  who  know  the  way  to  it  and 
walk  in  that  way  (n.  60).  A  brief  description  of  heaven  (n.  60-62).  The 
angelic  heaven  is  an  image  of  the  Infinite  and  Eternal  (n.  62).  It  is  most 
important  to  know  what  heaven  is  in  general  or  in  many,  and  what  it  is 
in  particular  or  in  the  individual,  and  what  it  is  in  the  spiritual  world 
and  what  it  is  in  the  natural  world  (n.  27fs]).  The  Lord's  heaven  in 
the  natural  world  is  called  the  church :  and  an  angel  of  that  heaven 
is  a  man  of  the  church  who  is  conjoined  with  the  Lord,  and  who 
becomes  an  angel  of  the  spiritual  heaven  after  he  leaves  this  world 
(n.  30).  Heaven  is  made  up  of  myriads  of  myriads  of  angels  (n.  62).  In 
heaven  there  are  both  rich  and  poor  and  both  great  and  small,  and  in 
hell  also  (n.  217).  Each  angel  is  a  heaven  in  the  least  form ;  and  heaven 
in  general  consists  of  as  many  heavens  as  there  are  angels  (n.  31).  Man 


562  THE  'DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

by  creation  is  a  heaven  in  the  least  form  (n.  67).  Every  one  who  permits 
himself  to  be  led  to. heaven  is  prepared  for  his  own  place  in  heaven  (n.  67). 
Those  that  have  acknowledged  God  and  His  Divine  providence  constitute 
heaven  (n.  205).  The  entire  heaven  acknowledges  the  Lord  alone,  and 
whoever  does  not  acknowledge  Him  is  not  admitted  into  heaven,  for 
heaven  is  heaven  from  the  Lord  (n.  263[3l).  The  Mohammedan  heaven 
is  divided  into  three  heavens,  a  highest,  a  middle,  and  a  lowest  (n.  255[5]). 
(See  MOHAMMEDANS.) 

HKBER.— The  Ancient  Church  was  notably  changed  by  Heber  (or  Eber),  from 
whom  arose  the  Hebraic  Church  (n.  328[2]). 

HEBRAIC  CHURCH.— In  the  Hebraic  Church,  which  arose  from  Heber,  worship 
by  sacrifices  was  first  instituted  (n.  328[2]). 

HELL  consists  ot  myriads  of  myriads,  and  every  one  there  is  in  form  like  a  man, 
though  monstrous,  in  which  all  the  fibres  and  vessels  are  inverted  (n. 
296[iJ).  Hell  is  in  the  human  form,  but  it  is  a  monstrous  human  form, 
like  that  of  the  devil,  by  whom  is  meant  hell  in  the  whole  complex  (n. 
2(M).  An  evil  man  is  hell  in  the  least  form  (n.  296[i|).  The  entire  hell  is 
arranged  in  societies  according  to  lusts  of  evil,  opposite  to  the  affections 
of  good  (in  the  societies  in  heaven)  (n.  2786[6]).  Those  that  have  acknow- 
ledged nature  alone  and  human  prudence  alone  constitute  hell  (n-.  205). 
Many,  especially  such  as  have  confirmed  themselves  in  a  faith  separated 
from  charity,  do  not  know  that  when  they  are  in  evils  they  are  in  hell  (n. 
101[i]).  The  hells  abound  in  unclean  things  (n.  38[a]).  All  in  hell  wish  to 
do  evil  to  all,  while  those  in  heaven  wish  to  do  good  to  all  (n.  215[8]). 
(See  DEVIL,  SATAN.) 

HEREDITARY  EVIL.— It  is  admitted  in  the  church  that  every  man  has  hereditary 
evil,  and  that  from  this  he  is  in  the  lust  of  many  evils.  This  evil  is  said 
to  be  from  Adam  and  his  wife,  but  this  is  an  error:  for  every  one  is  born 
into  it  from  his  parent,  and  the  parent  from  his  parent,  and  thus  it  is 
successively  transferred  from  one  to  another;  so  it  is  increased  and 
grows,  as  it  were,  and  is  transmitted  to  offspring  (n.  277a[i],  328[7J).  Man, 
because  of  his  hereditary  evil,  is  always  panting  for  the  lowest  hell ;  but 
the  Lord  by  His  providence  is  constantly  leading  and  drawing  him  away 
from  it,  first  to  a  milder  hell,  then  out  of  hell,  and  finally  to  Himself  in 
heaven  (n.  183[ij).  The  passion  to  be  greatest  and  richest  lies  most 
deeply  hidden  in  hereditary  evil;  but  providence  takes  it  away  so  quietly 
and  gradually  that  man' knows  nothing  about  it  (n.  ia3[2]).  Spirit's 
shown  that  they  are  in  hereditary  evils  of  which  they  had  been  ignorant 
before  (n.  279[s]). 

HERESIES  in  the  Christian  world  (n.  238,  239,  259).  The  confirmations  of  her- 
esies (n.  318[2]).  That  only  such  as  are  born  within  the  church  are  saved 
is  an  insane  heresy  (n.  329[3j,  33()[5]>.  That  any  of  the  human  race  are 
damned  by  predestination  is  &  cruel  heresy  (n.  329[s],  330|8]). 

HERETIC.— What  heretic  can  see  his  falsities  unless  he  accepts  the  genuine 
truths  of  the  church  ?  (n.  318[61.) 

HIEROGLYPHICS,  whence  derived  (n.  255[2]). 

HOLINESS.— A  spiritual  holiness,  which  is  also  called  the  spirit  of  truth  going 
forth  from  the  Lord,  is  within  each  of  the  particulars  of  the  sense  of  the 
letter  of  the  Word.  This  holiness  is  injured  when  the  Word  is  falsified 
and  adulterated  (n.  23! [3]). 

HOLY  SPIRIT  (THE).— The  Divine  going  forth  is  called  the  Holy  Spirit  (n.  262[s]). 

HOME  (see  HOTSE). 

HONORS  AND  POSSESSIONS  mp.y  be  blessings  and  also  may  be  curses;  when 
blessings  they  arc  from  God,  and  are  spiritual  and  eternal ;  when  curses 
they  are  from  the  devil,  and  are  temporal  and  perishable  (n.  216[2]).  Why 
the  Divine  providence  permits  the  impious  in  heart  to  be  raised  to  dig- 
nities and  enriched  with  possessions  (n.  250[s]).  The  Lord  never  leads 
man  away  from  seeking  honors  or  from  acquiring  wealth,  but  only  leads 
him  away  from  a  desire  to  seek  honors  for  the  sake  of  mere  eminence, 
that  is,  for  the  sake  of  himself  (n.  183U]).  (See  DIGNITIES.) 


INDEX  56> 

HOPE.— The  source  of  what  is  called  hope  (n.  178[i  |). 

HORNS.— "The  ten  horns  of  the  dragon  "  (Apoc.  xii.  3)  signify  the  power  of  per- 
suading by  fallacies  (n.  SlOIsi). 

HOUSE.— No  one  (in  the  spiritual  world)  can  occupy  any  house  but  his  own ; 
each  one  in  a  society  has  his  own  house,  and  this  he  finds  ready  for  him 
as  soon  as  he  enters  the  society.  Outside  of  his  house  he  may  be  in 
close  association  with  others,  but  he  cannot  stay  anywhere  except  in  his- 
own  house  (n.  338(4]). 

HUMAN.— Every  one  has  what  is  truly  human  from  rationality  (n.  227L6]).  To 
think  from  the  truth  is  the  truly  human  principle,  and  therefore  the 
angelic  (h.  321[5]).  The  essential  human  is  to  think  and  to  will  from  God 
(n.  293).  Christians  in  their  thought  separate  His  Divine  from  His 
Human,  and  place  the  Divine  near  the  Father  in  heaven,  and  His  Human 
they  know  not  where  (n.  255U],  262U]>.  They  make  His  Human  like 
the  human  of  another  man,  and  do  not  know  that  they  thus  separate 
soul  and  body  (n.  262[4]).  The  essential  humanity  consists  in  the  two- 
faculties  called  liberty  and  rationality  (n.  281[3]). 

HUMBLE.— The  Lord  constantly  humbles  the  proud  and  exalts  the  humble  (n. 
183|4]). 

HUSBAND.— Why  the  Lord  is  called  in  the  Word  "the  Husband  "  (n.  8). 

HYPERBOLA. — There  is  no  such  approximation  of  angelic  wisdom  to  the  Divine 
wisdom  as  to  come  near  it.  It  may  be  compared  to  a  straight  line  drawn 
near  a  hyperbola,  which  is  said  to  approach  it  continually  but  never  to- 
touch  it  (n.  335[2]). 

HYPOCRISY  is  lighter  or  more  grievous  in  the  measure  of  the  confirmations 
against  God  and  the  outward  reasonings  in  favor  of  God  (n.  231[4]). 

HYPOCRITES  (n.  14[i],  89,  104[2],  109[i],  222[2],  224[i],  231U]).  Hypocrites  are 
sometimes  permitted  to  speak  otherwise  than  as  they  think,  but  the 
tone  of  their  speech  discloses  them  (n.  224[s]). 

IDEALISTS  are  visionaries  (n.  46i2p. 

IDEAS.— In  every  one  who  has  any  religion  there  is  implanted  a  knowledge  that 
after  death  he  will  live  as  a  man;  this,  however,  is  not  in  the  natural 
ideas  belonging  to  their  external  thought,  but  in  the  spiritual  ideas  be- 
longing to  their  internal  thought  (n.  274[io]).  There  are  abstract  ideas  by- 
means  of  which  the  existence  of  things  can  be  seen,  if  not  the  nature  of 
them  (n.  46[i]).  The  two  properties  of  nature,  space  and  time,  must 
needs  limit  ideas,  and  cause  abstract  ideas  to  be  as  nothing;  but  if  these 
can  be  withdrawn  in  man,  as  they  are  in  an  angel,  the  infinite  may  be 
comprehended  (n.  46[>]). 

IDOLATERS.— Those  who  confirm  in  themselves  the  appearance  apart  from  the 
truth  are  all  interior  idolaters,  since  they  are  worshippers  of  self  and  the 
world.  If  they  have  no  religion  they  become  worshippers  of  nature, 
and  thus  atheists;  while  if  they  have  a  religion  they  become  worshippers 
of  man  and  even  of  images  (n.  154[2]). 

IDOLATRY.— The  origin  of  idolatry  _(n.  2551.2]).  Among  the  ancients  there  was  a 

knowledge  of  correspondences; from  that  knowledge  they  knew  the 

signification  of  animals  of  every  kind, and  made  graven  images  of 

them, to  call  to  remembrance  the  holy  things  which  they  signified  (n. 

255[2]).  After  a  time  their  posterity  began  to  worship  the  graven  images 
themselves,. . .  .and  from  this  the  idolatries  arose  which  filled  the  whole 
world  (n.  255[s],  264[6]). 

IDOLS.— There  are  many,  even  in  the  Christian  world,  who  worship  idols  and 
graven  images,  to  whom  these  are  serviceable  as  a  means  of  awakening 
thought  about  God  (n.  254[5]). 

IGNORANCE. — No  one  is  reformed  in  a  state  of  ignorance,  because  all  reform- 
ation is  effected  by  means  of  truths  apd  a  life  according  to  them  (n. 
143. 

ILLUMINATION  (see  ENLIGHTENMENT.) 


564  THE  Vll/INE  'PROVIDENCE 

IMAGE  AND  LIKENESS  OF  GOD,  terms  explained  (n.  27,  323J6]).  Man's  being  an 
"  image  "  of  God  means  tlvat  he  is  a  recipient  of  the  Divine  wisdom,  his 
being  a  "likeness"  of  God  means  that  he  is  a  recipient  of  the  Divine 
love;  thus  the  receptacle  called  the  understanding  is  an  image  of  God, 
and  the  receptacle  called  the  will  is  a  likeness  of  God  (n.  328(5]).  God's 
image  and  God's  likeness  are  not  destroyed  in  man,  but  are  seemingly 
destroyed;  for  they  remain  implanted  in  his  two  capacities  called  liberty 
and  rationality  (n.  328L6]).  The  angelic  heaven  is  the  very  image  and  like- 
ness of  the  Lord  (n.  163).  In  the  created  universe  there  is  an  image  of 
man,  and  this  is  an  image  of  what  is  infinite  and  eternal,  thus  an  image 
of  God  the  Creator,  that  is,  of  the  Lord  from  eternity  (n.  52).  The 
Diviii^  love  and  the  Divine  wisdom,  which  in  the  Lord  are  one,  and 
which  go  forth  as  one  from  the  Lord,  in  a  certain  semblance  are  in  every 
thing  created  by  Him  (n.  8).  The  Divine  providence  presents  an  image 
of  the  Infinite  and  Eternal  in  the  variety  of  all  things,  and  in  the  fruc- 
tification and  multiplication  of  all  things  (n.  57).  The  image  of  the 
Infinite  and  Eternal  is  in  man  exclusively  in  the  marriage  of  good  and 
truth  (n.  58).  So  far  as  heaven  and  the  church  in  general,  or  an  angel  of 
heaven  and  a  man  of  the  church  individually,  are  in  the  marriage  of 
good  and  truth,  they  are  an  image  and  likeness  of  the  Lord  (n.  8).  The 
ability  to  understand  truth  is  from  the  Divine  wisdom,  and  the  ability 
to  do  good  is  from  the  Divine  love.  This  ability  is  the  image  of  God, 
which  remains  in  every  sane  man  and  is  not  eradicated  (n.  322[i]). 

IMAGES.— There  are  some  to  whom  graven  images  are  serviceable  as  a  means  of 
awakening  thought  about  God  (n.  254(51).  (See  STATUE.) 

iMMEDfATE.      i  —Salvation  by  immediate  mercy  is  impossible  (n.  221, 279).   Man 

IMMEDIATELY.  {  is  not  taught  immediately  from  heaven,  but  mediately  (n. 
254[ i]).  Man  is  led  and  taught  by  the  Lord  alone,  and  is  led  and  taught 
immediately  by  Him  when  this  is  done  from  the  Word  (n.  172[6]).  That 
this  is  done  mediately  through  preaching  does  not  take  away  the  im- 
mediateness  (n.  172[6J). 

IMMORTAL.— That  which  is  mortal  in  man  is  taken  away  by  death,  and  what  is 
immortal  in  him,  which  is  his  mind,  is  unveiled,  and  he  then  becomes 
a  spirit  in  human  form  (n.  324[3]). 

IMMORTALITY.— Man  without  liberty  and  rationality  could  not  have  immortal- 
ity and  eternal  life  (n.  96[i,7J).  By  means  of  these  two  faculties  there  is 
a  conjunction  of  the  Lord  with  every  man,  and  every  man  has  immort- 
ality (n.  96[7J).  Difference  between  immortality  and  eternal  life  (n.  96[;]). 
The  interior  idea  of  the  sages  or  wise  men  of  old  in  regard  to  immortal- 
ity (n.  324(3]).  Why  some  aspire  to  an  immortality  of  tame  (n.  274(9]). 

IMPIETIES.— All  impieties  and  the  glorying  in  them  are  permissions,  the  causes 
of  which  are  laws  of  Divine  providence  (n.  249[i]). 

IMPIOUS.— Why  the  Divine  providence  permits  the  impious  in  heart  to  be  raised 
to  dignities  and  enriched  with  possessions  (n.  250(3]). 

INFANCY,  i  — Every  one  who  dies  in  infancy  enters  heaven,  is  there  brought  up 

INFANTS.  ^  and  instructed  as  a  man  is  in  the  world,  and  through  an  affection 
for  good  and  truth  imbibes  wisdom  and  becomes  an  angel  (n.  324(9]). 
The  Lord  provides  that  all  who  die  in  infancy  shall  be  saved,  wherever 
born  (n.  328[8j).  (See  CHILDREN.) 

INFINITE  (n.  46-49).  The  angels  understood  by  the  Infinite  nothing  else  than 
the  Divine  being  (esse).  An  infinity  of  space  is  impossible,  also  an  infin- 
ity of  time,  because  infinity  is  without  end,  either  first  or  last,  that  is, 
without  limits  (n.  48[2j).  The  Infinite  and  Eternal,  thus  the  Lord,  must 
be  thought  of  apart  from  space  and  time  (n.  51).  The  Divine  providence 
in  every  thing  that  it  does  looks  to  what  is  infinite  and  eternal  from  it- 
self (n.*55,  69).  The  infinite  and  eternal  that  the  Lord  looks  to  in  form- 
ing His  heaven  out  of  men  is  that  it  shall  be  enlarged  to  infinity  and  to 
eternity  (n.  202[i]).  The  Lord's  Divine  love  is  infinite  and  His  Divine 
wisdom  is  infinite,  and  infinite  tilings  of  love  and  of  wisdom  go  forth 
from  the  Lord,  and  these  flow  into  all  in  heaven  and  therefrom  into  all 


INDEX  565 

in  hell,  and  from  both  of  these  into  all  in  the  world  (n.  294[6]).  (See 
FINITE,  IMAGE.) 

INFLUX.— Everything  that  a  man  thinks  and  wills,  and  says  and  does  therefrom, 
is  from  influx— if  good  from  influx  out  of  heaven,  and  if  evil  from  influx 
from  hell;  or  what  is  the  same,  that  good  is  from  influx  from  the  Lord, 
and  evil  from  what  is  man's  own  (proprium)  (n.  287,  288,  291,  294,  307, 
308).  The  Lord's  influx  is  into  the  love  of  good  and  into  its  affections, 
and  through  these  affections  into  the  perceptions  and  thoughts ;  so  the 
influx  of  the  devil,  that  is,  of  hell,  is  into  the  love  of  evil  and  into  its 
affections,  which  are  lusts,  and  through  these  into  the  perceptions  and 
thoughts  (n.  33(3]).  Those  who  are  taught  by  influx  what  to  believe  or 
what  to  do  are  not  taught  by  the  Lord  or  by  any  angel  of  heaven,  but  by 
some  enthusiastic  spirit  (n.  321[3]).  All  influx  from  the  Lord  takes  place 
by  enlightenment  of  the  understanding,  and  by  an  affection  for  truth 
and  through  affection  into  the  understanding  (n.  321  [3]).  By  influx  from 
the  spiritual  world,  which  does  not  compel,  man's  spirit  has  full  liberty 
in  thinking,  willing,  believing,  and  loving  (n.  129[i]).  Man  must  act 
from  freedom,  as  if  from  himself,  and  not  let  his  hands  hang  down  and 
wait  for  influx  (n.  200,  210[i],  321(3]).  Influx  is  received  by  the  angels  in 
the  perception  of  truth  and  in  thought,  for  in  these  the  influx  becomes 
apparent  to  them,  but  not  in  the  affections  (n.  28[3]).  It  is  from  an  in- 
flux from  heaven  that  those  who  acknowledge  God  have  a  desire  to  see 
Him  (n.  254[s]). 

INGRAFTED. — The  ingrafted  branch  turns  the  sap  drawn  up  through  the  old  root 
into  a  sap  that  makes  good  fruit.  The  branch  to  be  ingrafted  can  be 
taken  from  no  other  source  than  the  Lord,  who  is  the  Tree  of  Life  (n. 
296[2]).  (See  GRAFTING.) 

INMOST.— The  operation  of  the  Lord's  Divine  providence  in  conjoining  man  with 
the  Lord  and  the  Lord  with  man  is  from  his  inmost  and  from  his  out- 
most simultaneously  (n.  125,  220[3]).  The  inmost  of  man  is  his  life's  love 
(n.  125).  The  Lord  acts  from  man's  inmosts  and  upon  the  unbroken 
series  to  outmosts  (n.  125).  The  things  that  are  in  man's  inmosts  and  in 
the  series  from  inmosts  to  outmosts  are  wholly  unknown  to  man;  and 
therefore  he  knows  nothing  whatever  of  the  way  in  which  the  Lord 
works  these  or  what  He  does  (n.  125).  Intermediates  are  connected  in 
unbroken  series  from  inmosts  even  to  outmosts,  and  in  outmosts  they 
are  together  (n.  124(4]).  There  is  a  constant  connection  between  the 
oute~mosts  and  the  inmosts  (n.  180(3]).  Looking  to  what  in  infinite  and 
eternal  in  the  formation  of  the  angelic  heaven,  that  it  maybe  before  the 
Lord  as  one  man,  is  the  inmost  of  the  Divine  providence  (n.  64,  67,  68). 
The  inmost  of  the  Divine  providence  respecting  hell  (n.  69). 

INNOCENCE.— The  state  of  innocence  in  which  Adam  and  Eve  his  wife  were, 
portrayed  by  their  "  nakedness  "  (n.  275). 

INSANITY.— The  evil  man  when  after  death  he  becomes  a  spirit  is  usually  let 
into  alternate  states  of  wisdom  and  insanity,  that  he  may  see  the  latter 
from  the  former;  but  although  from  wisdom  such  see  that  they  are  in- 
sane, when  the  choice  is  given  them  they  admit  themselves  into  the  state 
of  insanity  and  love  it  (n.  223).  The  devils  call  insanity  wisdom  (n.  225). 

INSTANTANEOUS.— The  impossibility  of  instantaneous  reformation  and  salva- 
tion illustrated  by  the  change  of  an  owl  to  a  dove,  or  of  a  serpent  to  a 
sheep  (n.  338(7]). 

INSTINCTS  a  result  of  influx  (n.  317). 

INSTRUCT.— All  that  have  lived  well  and  have  acknowledged  God  are,  after 
death,  instructed  by  the  angels  (n.  328[8]). 

INTELLIGENCE.— The  angelic  view  of  will  and  intelligence  in  man  is  that  not  a 
grain  of  will  or  of  prudence  that  is  his  own  is  possible  in  any  man  (n.  295). 
A  good  man  is  bound  to  act  from  intelligence  as  if  it  were  his  own  just  as 
much  as  an  evil  man  (n.  298[6]).  The  difference  between  these  two  kinds 
of  intelligence  is  like  the  difference  between  that  which  is  believed  to  be 
in  itself,  and  that  which  is  believed  not  to  be  in  itself  and  yet  as  if  in 


566  THE  VI^INE  'PROVIDENCE 

itself  (n.  298[6]).  One's  own  intelligence  can  establish  the  human  form 
in  externals  only;  but  the  Divine  providence  establishes  that  form  in 
the  internals  and  through  these  in  the  externals  (n.  298f4l).  An  ability 
to  confirm  whatever  one  pleases  is  not  intelligence,  but  only  ingenuity, 
which  may  exist  in  the  worst  of  men  (n.  318[8]). 

INTELLIGKNT.— Only  those  who  perceive  the  truth  are  intelligent,  and  they  con- 
firm truth  by  verities  continually  perceived  (n.  318[8]). 

INTENTION.— Man  knows  his  thoughts  and  consequent  intentions  (n.  197).  The 
will's  love  flows  into  the  understanding  and  makes  its  delights  to  be  felt 
therein,  and  from  that  it  comes  into  the  thoughts  and  also  into  the 
intentions  (n.  281[2]J.  (See  PURPOSES.) 

INTERIORS.— The  interiors  of  man  mean  the  internal  of  his  thought,  of  which  he 
knows  nothing  until  he  comes  into  the  spiritual  world  and  its  light, 
which  he  does  after  death  (n.  233[i,3l).  Evil  with  its  falsity  and  good 
with  its  truth  cannot  be  in  man's  interiors  together  (n.  233|>1).  Of  the 
interior  state  of  his  mind,  or  of  his  internal  man,  man  knows  nothing 
whatever  (n.  120).  Good  and  the  truth  of  good  can  be  brought  into  a 
man's  interiors  by  the  Lord  only  so  far  as  evil  and  the  falsity  of  evil 
there  have  been  removed  (n.  2331s]).  Tnat  *n  tuo  interiors  of  man's 
mind  there  are  things  too  limitless  to  be  numbered  (n.  1991s],  120).  The 
few  externals  that  come  within  the  view  of  man's  thought  are  produced 
from  the  interiors,  and  the  interiors  are  governed  by  the  Lord  alone  by 
His  Divine  providence  (n.  19912]). 

INTERMEDIATES.— Man's  intermediates  are  the  things  that  are  in  the  internal  of 
his  thought  (n.  125).  Intermediates  are  connected  in  unbroken  series 
from  inmosts  even  to  outmosts,  and  in  outmosts  they  are  together  (n. 
124[4]). 

INTERNAL.— By  the  internal  man  nothing  else  is  meant  than  the  internal  of  the 
will  and  understanding  (n.  103).  A  compelled  internal  is  possible  in 
such  as  are  in  external  worship  only,  also  in  such  as  are  in  the  internal 
of  worship;  it  may  »e  an  internal  compelled  by  fear  or  an  internal  com- 
pelled by  love  (n.  ISGtg]).  Such  an  internal  is  the  external  of  thought, 
and  is  called  internal  because  it  belongs  to  thought  (n.  136[9]).  This  in- 
ternal is  not  the  strictly  human  internal;  it  is  an  internal  that  man  has 
in  common  with  beasts.  The  human  internal  has  its  seat  above  this 
animal  internal  (n.  136(2]).  The  appearance  is  that  the  external  flows 
into  the  internal,  when  nevertheless  the  contrary  is  true  (n.  loObi).  The 
external  cannot  compel  the  internal,  but  the  internal  can  compel  the 
external  (n.  136|>]).  The  internal  is  so  averse  to  compulsion  by  the  exter- 
nal that  it  turns  itself  away  (n.  136[i]).  Externals  are  so  connected  with 
internals  as  to  make  one  in  every  operation  (n.  180).  Only  in  certain  exter- 
nals is  man  associated  with  the  Lord ;  and  if  he  were  at  the  same  time  in 
the  internals  he  would  pervert,  and  destroy  the  whole  order  and  tenor  of 
the  course  of  the  Divine  providence  (n.  180[  i]).  As  man  orders  the  externals 
so  the  Lord  orders  the  internals  (n.  181|>]).  He  that  does  not  acknow- 
ledge the  Lord  is  unable  to  receive  any  internal  of  worship  (n.  132[s]). 
(See  BODY,  EXTERNALS.) 

INTESTINES  (n.  180U],  279[7],  296[i4]). 

INVOKE  —Some  invoke  the  dead  (n.  257[i],  257rs]). 

ISRAEL.— The  men  of  Judah  and  of  Israel  were  wholly  external  men,  and  were 
led  into  the  land  of  Canaan  merely  that  they  might  represent  the  church 
and  its  internals  by  means  of  the  externals  of  worship  (n.  132[i]).  (See 
CHURCH.) 

JEHOVAH.— The  Divine  itself,  which  is  called  Jehovah  the  Father,  is  the  Lord 
from  eternity  (n.  157[g]).  The  Lord  from  eternity,  or  Jehovah,  is  Life 
itself,  since  He  is  Love  itself  and  Wisdom  itself  (n.  157[5,9]).  Angels  that 
were  seen  by  Abraham,  Hagar,  and  Gideon  were  so  filled  with  the 
Divine  that  they  called  themselves  Jehovah  (n.  96[6]). 


INDEX  567 

JESTS.— Profanation  is  committed  by  those  who  make  jests  from  the  Word  and 
about  the  Word,  or  from  the  Divine  things  of  the  church  and  about  them 
(n.  231[i]). 

JESUITS  (n.  222). 

JESUS.— In  the  spiritual  world,  where  all  are  obliged  to  speak  as  they  think,  no 
one  can  even  mention  the  name  "Jesus"  unless  he  has  lived  in  the 
world  as  a  Christian  (n.  262[8]).  No  one  can  even  mention  the  Lord,  or 
His  names  "  Jesus  "  and  "  Christ "  except  from  Him  (u.  53). 

JEWS.— By  "Jews"  in  the  Word  all  who  are  of  the  church  and  who  acknow- 
ledge the  Lord  are  meant  (n.  260[i]).  The  Jewish  nation  has  been  pre- 
served and  has  been  scattered  over  a  great  part  of  the  world  for  the  sake 
of  the  Word  in  its  original  language,  which  they,  more  than  Christians, 
hold  sacred  (n.  260(3]).  Tne  Jews  persist  in  denying  the  Lord,  because 
they  are  such  that  they  would  profane  the  Divinity  of  the  Lord  and  the 
holy  things  of  His  church  if  they  were  to  accept  and  acknowledge  them 
(n.  260[2j).  Why  the  Jewish  nation  was  permitted  to  crucify  the  Lord 
(n.  247).  What  is  represented  by  the  carrying  away  of  the  people  of 
Israel,  and  by  the  captivity  of  the  people  of  Judah  in  Babylonia  (n.  246). 
Whether  a  man  is  a  Jew  or  not  known  from  the  features  alone  (n. 
277a[2]). 

JOY.— Every  one  who  comes  into  heaven  enters  into  the  highest.joy  of  his  hoart; 
he  can  bear  no  higher  joy,  for  he  would  be  suffocated  thereby  (n.  254[3]). 
Heavenly  happiness  for  each  in  his  degree  illustrated  by  the  surround- 
ings of  a  peasant  and  of  a  king  (n.  25414]). 

JUDAISM.— Why  Judaism  still  continues  (n.  260). 

JUDAS  (n.  114[i],  258[s]). 

JUDGE.— Unjust  judges  (n.  109, 168,  296[ii]).  Who  does  not  see  that  the  judge  is 
for  the  sake  of  justice, -the  magistrate  for  the  sake  of  the  common  wel- 
fare, and  the  king  for  the  sake  of  the  kingdom,  and  not  the  reverse  ?  (n. 
21712J.) 

JUDGMENT  (THE  LAST).— The  power  of  hell  was  wholly  broken  up  by  the  last 
judgment,  which  has  now  been  accomplished.  Since  that  judgment,  that 
is,  now,  every  man  who  wishes  to  be  enlightened  and  to  be  wise  can  be 
(n.  26313]). 

JUDGMENTS.— The  church  instituted  with  the  nation  of  Israel  and  Judah  was  a 
representative  church,  therefore  all  the  judgments  and  statutes  of  that 
church  represented  the  spiritual  things  of  the  church  which  are  its  inter- 
nals (n.  245). 

KIDNEYS  (THE)  (n.  174,  180,  279).  In  the  kidneys  a  separation  of  the  blood,  a  pur- 
ification and  a  withdrawal  of  heterogeneous  substances  is  effected  (n. 
296[i4]).  The  kidneys  separate  impure  humors  from  the  blood  (n.  336, 
174). 

KING.— In  the  church  with  the  nation  of  Israel  and  Judah  the  "King"  repre- 
sented the  Lord  ;  "  David  "  representing  the  Lord  who  was  to  come  into 
the  world,  and  "  Solomon  "  the  Lord  after  his  coming  (n.  245).  Why 
many  kings  after  Solomon  were  permitted  to  profane  the  temple  and 
the  holy  things  of  the  church  (n.  246).  Who  does  not  see  that  the  judge 
is  for  the  sake  of  justice,  the  magistrate  for  the  sake  of  the  common  wel- 
fare, and  the  king  for  the  sake  of  the  kingdom,  and  not  the  reverse  ?  (n. 
217[2]). 

KINGDOM.— The  Lord's  kingdom  is  a  kingdom  of  uses  (n.  250f3]).  Search  and  see 
how  many  there  are  in  the  kingdoms  of  the  present  day  who  aspire  to 
dignities  and  who  are  not  loves  of  self  and  the  world  (n.  250[4]).  It  is  not 
known  in  this  world  what  kingdoms  in  Christendom  answer  to  the 
"Moabites"  and  "Ammonites,"  what  to  the  "Syrians"  and  "Philis- 
tines," or  what  to  the  "Chaldeans"  and  "Assyrians,"  and  the  others 
with  whom  the  children  of  Israel  waged  war  ;  and  yet  there  are  those 
that  do  answer  to  them  (n.  251[4]).  The  entire  heaven  is  divided  into  two 


568  THE  'DIVINE  TROflDENCE 

kingdoms,  one  of  which  is  called  the  celestial  kingdom,  the  other  the 

spiritual  kingdom  (n.  217[s]). 
KNOWING.— All  knowing,  perceiving,  or  thinking  is  of  the  understanding,  and 

has  relation  to  truth  (n.  11[2J). 
KNOWLEDGES  are  like  tools  to  the  workman  (n.  96[3]).    Knowledge  is  inexhaust- 

able  (n.  57). 


LAMPS  signify  truths  of  faith ;  "  oil "  the  good  of  charity  (n. 
LARYNX  (THE)  (n.  180[s],  279[8]). 
LAWS  OF  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  (n.  70-190).  The  Lord  cannot  act  contrary  to  the 
laws  of  the  Divine  providence,  because  acting  contrary  to  them  would 
be  acting  contrary  to  His  Divine  love  and  to  his  Divine  wisdom,  thus  con- 
trary to  Himself  (n.  331).  There  are  no  laws  of  permission  by  themselves 
or  apart  from  the  laws  of  the  Divine  providence,  but  the  two  are  the 
same  (n.  234).  Whatever  is  done  for  the  sake  of  the  end,  which  is  salva- 
tion, is  according  to  the  laws  of  the  Divine  providence  (n.  234).  One  who 
does  not  acknowledge  the  Divine  providence  at  all  does  not  in  his  heart 
acknowledge  God  (n.  235).  Things  by  which  a  natural  man  confirms 
himself  against  the  Divine  providence  (n.  236-239). 

LEAVEN  signifies  in  the  Word  the  falsity  of  evil  (n.  284,  25).   (See  FERMENTATION.) 

LEAVES  signify  the  natural  truths  that  every  one  first  imbibes  (n.  332[s]).  The 
fig  leaves  with  which  Adam  and  Eve  covered  their  nakedness  signify 
moral  truths  by  which  the  things  of  their  love  and  pride  were  veiled  (n. 
313[s]).  (See  TRKE.) 

LED  (TO  BE).— The  appearance  is  that  man  is  taught  and  led  by  himself;  but 
the  truth  is  that  he  is  led  and  taught  by  the  Lord  alone  (n.  154-157, 174). 
The  angels  of  heaven  refuse  to  be  led  by  themselves,  and  love  to  be  led 
by  the  Lord  (n.  208).  It  is  an  evidence  that  they  are  led  by  the  Lord  that 
they  love  the  neighbor  (n.  208).  Spirits  of  hell  refuse  to  be  led  by  the 
Lord,  and  love  to  be  led  by  themselves  (n.  208).  They  who  in  their  life 
look  to  God  and  do  not  do  evil  to  the  neighbor  are  led  by  the  Lord  (n.253). 
All  who  are  led  by  the  Lord's  Divine  providence  are  raised  above  the  self, 
and  they  then  see  that  all  good  and  truth  are  from  the  Lord  (n.  316). 
Man  is  led  and  taught  by  the  Lord  alone  through  the  angelic  heaven  and 
from  it  (11.  162).  Unless  man  were  led  every  moment  and  fraction  of  a 
moment  by  the  Lord  he  would  depart  from  the  way  of  regeneration  and 
would  perish  (n.  202[2]).  Each  one,  from  infancy  even  to  the  end  of  his 
life,  is  led  by  the  Lord  in  the  least  particulars  (n.  203). 

LEIBNITZ  was  convinced  that  no  one  thinks  from  himself  (n.  289[2l). 

LIBERTY.— Man  has  the  faculty  of  thinking,  willing,  speaking,  and  doing  what 
he  understands,  which  is  liberty  (n.  73!  i],  15).  Unless  man  possessed  a 
will  from  the  faculty  that  is  called  liberty  he  would  not  be  a  man  (n.  96[sJ, 
98[i],  227[5l,  286).  Liberty  and  rationality  are  from  the  Lord  (n.  73).  Man 
has  full  liberty  to  think  and  will,  but  not  full  liberty  to  say  and  to  do 
whatever  he  thinks  and  wills  (n.  281[i]).  Unless  man  had  full  liberty  he 
not  only  could  not  be  saved  but  would  even  perish  utterly  (n.  28Hi]). 
Who  those  are  to  whom  freedom  itself  or  liberty  itself,  together  with  rea- 
son itself  or  rationality  itself,  cannot  be  given  ;  and  to  whom  they  can 
scarcely  be  given  (n.  98[i1). 

LIBERTY  AND  RATIONALITY.— These  faculties  are,  as  it  were,  innate  in  man,  for 
the  human  itself  is  in  them  (n.  98[i]).  By  means  of  rationality  and  lib- 
erty man  is  reformed  and  regenerated,  and  without  them  he  could  not 
be  reformed  and  regenerated  (n.  85[i]).  Liberty  itself  and  rationality 
itself  can  scarcely  be  given  to  those  who  have  strongly  confirmed  them- 
selves in  falsities  of  religion  (n.  98[sl).  Every  one  can' come  into  liberty 
itself  and  rationality  itself,  provided  he  shuns  evils  as  sins  (n.  99).  A 
mature  man  who  does  not  come  into  rationality  itself  and  liberty  itself 
in  the  world  can  in  no  wise  come  into  them  after  death  (n.  99).  infants 
and  children  cannot  come  into  rationality  itself  and  liberty  itself  until 


INDEX  569 

they  are  grown  up  (n.  98[6]).  To  whom  these  faculties  cannot  be  given 
(n.  98[2.4]>  Liberty  with  its  rationality  has  been  destroyed  in  those  who 
have  mixed  good  and  evil  together  (n.  227[s]). 

LlFB.— The  Lord  is  the  one  fountain  of  life  (n.  292,  159).  There  is  only  one  life, 
and  men  are  recipients  of  life  (n.  308).  It  is  from  creation,  and  therefore 
from  an  unceasing  Divine  providence,  that  in  man  this  life  should  man- 
ifest itself  in  an  appearance  of  belonging  to  him  (n.  308[iJ).  The  Divine 
love  and  the  Divine  wisdom  are  the  life  which  is  the  source  of  the  life  of 
all  things  and  of  all  things  of  life  (n.  157[il).  Man's  life  is  his  love,  and 
the  love  is  manifold  (n.  33[ij).  The  Lord  flows  into  the  life's  love  of  every 
one,  and  through  its  affections  into  the  perceptions  and  thoughts,  and 
not  the  reverse  (n.  33[2])  Each  one  must  have  his  own  life;  no  one  lives 
in  another's  life,  still  less  in  an  opposite  life  (n.  227U])-  The  life  makes 
doctrine  for  itself  and  belief  for  itself  (n.  lOlLsJ).  That  man  alter  death 
lives  to  eternity  is  clear  from  the  Word,  where  life  in  heaven  is  called 
"eternal  life "  (n.  324[5]).  Eternal  life  is  also  eternal  blessedness  (n. 
324[6]).  Without  liberty  and  rationality  man  could  not  have  immortality 
and  eternal  life  (n.  96[jJ).  Through  conjunction  with  the  Lord  man  has 
immortality,  and  through  reformation  and  regeneration  he  has  eternal 
life  (n.  961;]).  The  source  of  life  in  the  evil  man  illustrated  (n.  160).  The 
life  of  animals  is  a  life  of  merely  natural  affection,  with  the  knowledge 
that  is  its  mate.  It  is  a  mediate  life,  corresponding  to  the  life  of  those 
who  are  in  the  spiritual  world  (n.  161,  96UJ,  74).  The  internal  memory  is 
the  book  of  man's  life,  which  is  opened  after  death  and  in  accordance 
with  which  he  is  judged  (n.  227[i]). 

LIGHT.— There  is  spiritual  light  and  natural  light;  these  are  alike  in  outward 
appearance,  but  inwardly  unlike;  for  natural  light  is  from  the  sun  of  the 
natural  world,  and  is  therefore  in  itself  dead,  while  spiritual  light  is 
from  the  sun  of  the  spiritual  world,  and  is  in  itself  living  (n.  166[i]). 
Spiritual  light  in  its  essence  is  the  Divine  truth  of  the  Lord's  Divine 
wisdom.  It  enlightens  the  interiors  of  his  understanding,  and  as  it  were 
dictates  (n.  317, 166).  In  the  spiritual  world  there  are  three  degrees  of 
light :  celestial  light,  spiritual  light,  and  spiritual-natural  light.  Celes- 
tial light  is  a  naming  ruddy  light.  This  is  the  light  of  those  that  are  in 
the  third  heaven.  Spiritual  light  is  a  dazzling  white  light.  This  is  the 
light  of  those  that  are  in  the  intermediate  heaven.  Spiritual-natural  light 
is^like  the  light  of  day  in  our  world.  This  is  the  light  of  those  that  are  in 
the  lowest  heaven,  also  those  that  are  in  the  world  of  spirits  (n.  1660]). 
None  of  the  light  oi  the  spiritual  world  has  any  thing  in  common  with 
the  light  of  the  natural  world  ;  they  differ  as  what  is  living  and  what  is 
dead  (n.  166[s]).  In  hell  also  there  are  three  degrees  of  light.  In  the 
lowest  hell  the  light  is  like  that  from  burning  charcoal  ;  in  the  middle 
hell  it  is  like  the  light  from  the  flame  of  a  hearth  fire  ;  while  in  the  up- 
permost hell  it  is  like  the  light  from  candles,  and  to  some  like  the  noc- 
turnal light  of  the  moon  (n.  167).  There  is  little  discernible  difference 
between  the  light  of  confirmation  and  the  light  of  the  perception  of  truth ; 
and  those  who  are  in  the  light  of  confirmation  seem  to  be  also  in  the 
light  of  the  perception  of  truth;  and  yet  the  difference  between  them  is 
like  that  between  illusive  light  and  genuine  light;  and  illusive  light  is 
such  that  in  the  spiritual  world  it  is  turned  into  darkness  when  genuine 
light  flows  m  (n.  318[8]).  In  the  Word  those  that  are  in  truths  are  said  to 
"\valk  in  the  light,"  and  are  called  "  children  of  light  "  (n.  318[s]).  Who 
are  meant  by  devils  who  make  themselves  angels  of  light  (n.  223).  It  is 
spiritual  light  and  not  natural  light  that  illumines  the  human  under- 
standing. Natural  and  rational  lumen  is  from  the  former,  not  from  the 
latter.  This  is  called  natural  and  rational  lumen  because  it  is  spiritual- 
natural  (n.  166[i]).  Light  is  turned  into  various  colors  according  to  the 
forms  into  which  it  flows.  The  same  is  true  of  spiritual  light  which  in  it- 
self is  wisdom  from  the  sun  of  the  spiritual  world;  the  forms  into  which 
it  flows  (human  minds)  cause  the  diversity  (n.  160), 


570  THE  DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

LIKENESS.— There  is  a  likeness  between  the  spiritual  things  of  the  mind  and  the 
natural  things  of  the  body  (n.  181).  (See  IMAGE.) 

LIPS,  their  function  in  speech  (n.  279[8]). 

LIVE.— Man  lives  from  the  Lord,  and  not  from  himself  (n.  156, 157).  The  appear- 
ance that  a  man  lives  from  himself  is  never  taken  away  from  him,  for 
without  it  a  man  is  not  a  man  (n.  156).  Man  lives  a  man  after  death  (n. 
274).  Good  of  life,  or  living  rightly,  is  shunning  evils  because  they  are 
against  religion,  thus  against  God  (n.  32512],  326[8]V 

LITER  (THE),  its  organization  (n.  180,  279[-]).    The  liver  assorts  (n.  174). 

LIVING.— The  spiritual  man  is  called  living,  but  the  natural  man,  however  civilly 
and  morally  he  may  act,  is  called  dead  (n.  322[3]). 

LOBES  OF  THE  LUNGS  (n.  3l9[i]). 

LOOK  (TO).— The  Lord's  look  is  upon  the  forehead  of  the  angels  (n.  29[2]).  The 
more  deeply  any  object  is  examined  the  more  wonderful,  perfect,  and 
beautiful  are  the  things  seen  in  it  (n.  6[i]).  All  conjunction  in  the  spirit- 
ual world  is  effected  by  means  of  looking  (n.  29[i|,  326). 

LORD.— The  Lord  is  the  God  of  heaven  and  earth  (n.  33U[6J).  The  Lord  is  the  very 
Man  (n.  65).  How  the  Lord  is  the  Divine  truth  of  the  Divine  good  (n. 
172[4]).  The  Lord  is  the  Word  because  the  Word  is  from  Him  and  treats 
of  Him  (n.  172|>]).  The  Lord  alone  is  heaven  (n.  29[s]).  Let  no  one 
cherish  the  mi^aken  idea  that  the  Lord  dwells  among  the  angels  in 
heaven,  or  is  with  them  like  a  king  in  his  kingdom.  In  respect  to  their 
sight  He  is  above  them  in  the  sun  there;  but  in  respect  to  the  life  of  their 
love  and  wisdom  He  is  in  them  (n.  31).  It  is  the  Lord's  will,  for  the  sake 
of  reception  and  conjunction,  that  whatever  a  man  does  freely  in  accord- 
ance with  reason  should  appear  to  him  to  be  his  (n.  77[s]).  The  Lord 
alone  causes  every  one  to  think  and  to  will  in  accordance  with  his  qual- 
ity and  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  Divine  providence  (n.  294[6]).  Man 
is  led  by  the  Lord  by  means  of  influx,  and  is  taught  by  the  Lord  by 
means  of  enlightenment  (n.  165).  The  man  who  is  taught  from  the  Word 
is  taught  by  the  Lord  Himself  (n.  17215]).  The  Lord,  who  is  good  itself 
and  truth  itself,  cannot  enter  into  man  unless  the  evils  and  falsities  in 
him  are  put  away  (n.  100).  The  Lord  is  within  all  good,  and  the  devil  is 
within  all  evil  (n.  23.%]). 

LOT. — Most  persons  when  they  enter  the  spiritual  world  wish  to  know  their  lot 
(n.  179[2]).  Every  one's  life  is  continued  and  from  this  is  his  lot ;  for  the 
lot  is  according  to  the  life  (n.  179[2]).  A  longing  to  know  things  future  is 
taken  away  from  those  who  believe  in  the  Divine  providence,  and  there 
is  given  them  a  trust  that  the  Lord  is  directing  their  lot.  They  have  no 
wish  to  know  beforehand  what  it  will  be,  lest  they  should  in  some  way 
interfere  with  the  Divine  providence  (n.  179[i]). 

LOVE.— Love  makes  the  life  of  man  (n.  13).  The  love  that  makes  man's  inmost 
life  is  love  and  wisdom  together  (n.  13).  The  life's  love  of  no  one  can  ex- 
ist without  derivations,  which  are  called  affections  (n.  106[2]).  Love 
dwells  in  its  affections  like  a  lord  in  his  realm,  or  like  a  king  in  his 
kingdom.  The  dominion  of  these  loves  is  over  the  things  of  the  mind, 
that  is,  the  things  of  man's  will  and  understanding  (n.  106[2]).  The  life's 
love  of  every  one,  which  is  the  ruling  love,  continues  after  death  and 
cannot  be  taken  away  (n.  231[7]).  Each  one's  life's  love  makes  an  under- 
standing for  itself,  and  thus  a  light;  for  love  is  like  the  fire  of  life,  from 
which  is  the  light  of  life  (n.  167).  Love  belongs  to  the  will  (n.  136[2]). 
The  will's  love  flows  into  the  understanding  and  makes  its  delight  to  be 
felt  therein,  and  from  that  it  comes  into  the  thoughts  and  also  into  the 
intentions  (n.  2S1[2]).  The  will's  love  inspires  the  understanding  with 
whatever  it  desires,  and  cot  the  reverse  (n.  209).  The  will's  love  makes 
a  faith  for  itself  (n.  136[8]).  Love  desires  to  communicate  its  own  to 
another,  and  even  to  give  from  its  own  as  much  as  it  can  (n.  324[2]). 
Love  wills  to  be  loved;  this  is  implanted  in  it;  and  so  far  as  love  is  loved 
in  return  it  is  in  itself  and  in  its  enjoyment  (n.  92[2]).  The  Divine  essence 
is  pure  love,  and  it  is  this  that  works  by  means  of  the  Divine  wisdom 


INDEX  511 

(a.  337).  Loves  are  manifold;  but  two  of  them,  heavenly  kve  and  infer- 
nal love,  are  like  lords  and  kings.  Heavenly  love  is  love  to  the  Lord  and 
love  towards  the  neighbor;  and  infernal  love  is  love  of  self  and  of  the 
world.  These  two  kinds  of  love  are  opposite  to  each  other  as  hell  and 
heaven  are  (n.  106[i],  107).  The  quality  of  the  love  of  one's  will  is  the 
quality  of  the  whole  man  (n.  199[s]).  If  man  attributes  all  things  to  him- 
self and  to  nature  the  love  of  self  becomes  the  soul;  but  if  he  attributes 
all  things  to  the  Lord  love  to  the  Lord  becomes  the  soul.  This  love  is 
heavenly,  while  the  other  is  infernal  (n.  1991s]).  It  is  the  nature  of  the 
love  of  self  to  regard  self  only,  and  to  regard  others  as  of  little  or  of  no 
account  (n.  206[iJ).  The  man  who  is  in  the  love  of  self  looks  only  to 
himself,  and  thus  immerses  his  thoughts  and  affections  in  what  is  his 
own.  There  is  in  the  love  of  self  the  love  of  doing  evil,  for  the  reason 
that  the  man  loves  not  the  neighbor  but  himself  alone  (n.  215(7]).  The 
love  of  evil  denned  (n.  33[i]).  What  the  love  of  riches  and  dignities  for 
their  own  sake  is,  and  what  the  love  of  dignities  and  riches  for  the  sake 
of  uses  is  (n.  215[6,7]).  The  love  of  self,  which  is  the  head  of  all  evils, 
surpasses  all  other  loves  in  its  ability  to  adulterate  goods  and  falsify 
truths  (n.  233[nj).  The  hardest  struggle  of  all  is  with  the  love  of  rule 
from  the  love  of  self.  He  who  subdues  this,  easily  subdues  the  other 
evil  loves,  for  this  is  their  head  (n.  146).  Love  of  ruling  from  love  of  self 
is  the  fountain  head  of  the  pleasures  of  the  lusts  of  evil  (n.  38[i]).  Spirit- 
ual love  is  such  that  it  wishes  to  give  its  own  to  another,  and  so  far  as  it 
can  do  this  it  is  in  its  being  (esse),  in  its  peace,  and  in  its  blessedness. 
Spiritual  love  derives  this  from  the  Lord's  Divine  love,  which  is  such  in- 
finitely (n.  27[2]).  The  love  into  which  man  was  created  is  love  of  the 
neighbor,  to  the  end  that  he  may  wish  as  well  to  the  neighbor  as  to  him- 
self, and  even  better,  and  may  be  in  the  'delight  of  that  love  when  he  is 
doing  good  to  the  neighbor  (n.  275).  This  love  is  truly  human,  for  there 
is  in  it  a  spiritual  (element)  that  distinguishes  it  from  the  natural  love 
that  belongs  to  brute  animals  (n.  275).  When  love  to  the  neighbor  was 
turned  into  love  of  self,  and  this  love  increased,  human  love  was  turned 
into  animal  love  (n.  276[i]).  The  life's  love  has  a  vicar  called  the  love  of 
means,  and  enjoins  upon  it  to  take  heed  and  watch  that  nothing  from 
its  lu>ts  appear  (n.  11)9,  110).  Conjugial  love  is  the  spiritual  heavenly  love 
itself,  an  image  of  love  of  the  Lord  and  of  the  church,  and  derived  from 
that  love  (n.  144[2];.  Love  truly  conjugial  communicates  with  the  high- 
est heaven  (n.  144[3]).  To  act  from  one's  love  is  to  act  from  one's  freedom 
(n.  43).  Love  and  freedom  are  one  (n.  73|>]).  (See  FREKDOM,  LIBERTY.) 

ijOVE  (TO).— Only  those  who  are  in  the  good  of  life  love  God,  for  they  love  the 
Divine  things  that  are  from  Him  in  that  they  do  them  (n.  326[6]).  What 
it  is  to  love  the  Lord  above  all  things  and  the  neighbor  as  one's  self  (n. 
94).  Those  who  shun  evils  as  monstrous  sins  love  the  Lord  above  all 
things.  This  none  can  do  except  those  who  love  the  neighbor  as  them- 
selves (n.  94). 

LOVE  AND  WISDOM.— Love  can  be  understood  only  from  its  quality,  and  its 
quality  is  wisdom;  and  its  quality  or  wisdom  can  exist  only  from  its  be- 
ing (me),  which  is  love  (n  13).  Love  in  its  form  is  wisdom,  and  good  in 
its  form  is  truth  (n.  13).  Love  can  do  nothing  apart  from  wisdom,  and 
wisdom  can  do  nothing  anart  from  love  (n.  3[i],  4[i]).  Love  calls  all  that 
pertains  to  it  good,  and  wisdom  calls  all  that  pertains  to  it  trutli  (n.  5[>]). 
Wisdom  belongs  to  the  understanding,  and  love  to  the  will  (n.  138(5]). 
When  man  turns  his  face  to  the  Lord  love  and  wisdom  are  given  him. 
These  enter  man  by  the  face,  and  not  by  the  back  of  the  neck  (n.  95). 
Love  and  wisdom  are  not  in  space  and  time  (n.  49).  How  love  conjoins 
itself  with  wisdom  (n.  28ls]). 

LOWING.— The  lowing  of  the  cows  on  the  way  (1  Sam.  v.  and  vi.),  signified  the 
difficult  conversion  of  the  lusts  of  the  evil  of  the  natural  man  into  good 
affections  (n.  326[i2]). 

LUCIFER,  ii  the  fourteenth  chapter  of  Isaiah  means  Babylon.    "  Babylon," 


$72  THE  ^DIYINE  TROl^IDENCE 

mentioned  in  many  places  in  the  Word,  meaning  the  profanation  of 
good  in  such  as  attribute  to  themselves  what  is  Divine  (n.  23H5]).  Why 
called  "  the  Son  of  the  morning  "  in  Isaiah  xiv.  12  (n.  257[s]). 

LUKEWARM.— The  profane  who  first  acknowledge  Divine  truths  and  live  accord- 
ing to  them,  but  afterwards  recede  and  deny  them,  are  meant  by  the 
"  lukewarm,"  described  in  Apoc.  iii.  15,  16  (n.  23118],  226). 

LUMINOUS.— In  the  spiritual  world  those  who  were  in  enlightenment  from  the 
Lord  have  sometimes  been  seen  with  a  luminous  appearance  around  the 
head  glowing  with  the  color  of  the  human  lace.  But  in  the  case  of 
those  tiiat  were  in  enlightenment  from  themselves  this  luminous  ap- 
pearance was  not  about  the  head,  but  about  the  mouth  and  chin  (n.  169). 

LUNGS  (THE),  correspond  to  the  understanding  (n.  193[.2j).  in  the  lungs  a  separ- 
ation of  the  blood,  a  purification  and  a  withdrawal  of  heterogeneous 
substances  is  effected  (u.  2;io[i4j).  The  tone  of  the  voice  in  speaking  and 
singing,  and  its  articulations,  which  are  the  words  of  speech  and  the 
modulations  of  singing,  are  made  by  the  lungs  (n.  279L8]).  The  first 
changes  and  variations  of  the  state  and  form  of  the  tone  take  place  in 
the  lungs  (u.  279I.8J).  Action  of  a  diseased  pleura  upon  the  lungs  (n. 
ISOLsJ)-  Xo  one  knows  how  the  soul  operates  to  cause  the  lungs  to 
breauie  (n.  174). 

LUSTS.— The  love  of  evil  with  its  affections  are  lusts  (n.  33[2]).  These  have  their 
seat  in  the  natural  man  (n.  331.2]).  As  many  as  are  the  inuumerable 
things  in  a  spirit  so  many  are  the  lusts  of  that  evil  (n.  296[i]).  If  one 
could  .see  the  delights  of  the  lusts  of  evil  together  in  some  form  he 
would  see  them  to  be  too  numerous  to  be  defined  (n.  296[i3J).  Hell  is 
nothing  but  a  form  of  all  the  lusts  of  evil  (n.  296[i3]).  No  one  who  is  in 
the  pleasures  of  the  lusts  of  evil  can  know  anything  about  the  pleasures 
of  affections  for  good  in  which  the  angelic  heaven  is  (n.  38U]).  These 
lusts  beset  the  interiors  of  the  mind,  and  from  the  interior*  they  flow 
down  into  the  body,  and  there  excite  the  unclean  things  that  titillate  the 
fibres  (n.  38[i]).  Evils  are  in  the  external  man  and  the  lusts  of  evil  in  the 
internal  man,  and  the  two  are  connected  like  root  and  trunk  (n.  119).  The 
pent-up  fires  of  the  lusts  of  evil  consume  the  interiors  of  the  mind  and 
lay  them  waste  to  the  very  gate  (n.  278[2]).  Every  lust  of  evil  in  hell, 
when  it  is  represented,  appears  like  some  noxious  animal  (n.  296[2]). 
Lusts  with  their  enjoyments  may  be  likened  to  tire;  the  more  it  is  fed 
the  more  it  burns  (n.  112[2]).  Through  the  external  of  thought  the  lusts 
enter  the  body  (n.  112[i]).  Man  is  not  able  to  perceive  the  lusts  of  his 
evil;  he  does  perceive  their  enjoyments,  although  he  does  not  think 
much  about  them.  Unless  one  knew  from  some  other  source  that  his 
lusts  are  evils  he  would  call  them  good  (n.  113).  The  perceptions  belong- 
ing to  lusts  are  devices;  the  delights  belonging  to  lusts  are  evils;  the 
thoughts  belonging  to  the  delights  are  falsities  (n.  206[2]).  Lusts  with 
their  enjoyments  block  the  way  and  close  the  doors  before  the  Lord  (n. 
33[2]).  All  lusts  of  evil  are  from  the  love  of  self  (n.  301). 

LUTHER  in  the  spiritual  world  execrated  faith  alone,  saying  that  when  he  estab- 
lished it  he  was  warned  by  an  angel  of  the  Lord  not  to  do  it;  but  his 
thought  was  that  unless  works  were  rejected  no  separation  from  the 
Catholic  religion  could  be  effected  (n.  258[6]).  (See  n.  50U]). 

LYING,  one  of  the  evils  in  which  man  is  from  birth;  why  permitted  (n.  276[>]). 

MACHIAVELIANS.— Cunning,  sensual  men  likened  to  those  called  Machiavelians 

(n.  3!0i2]). 
MAGISTRATE.— The  judge  is  for  the  sake  of  justice,  the  magistrate  for  the  sake 

of  the  common  welfare,  and  the  king  for  the  sake  of  the  kingdom,  anu 

not  the  reverse  (n.  2L7|>]). 
MAINTENANCE  involves  perpetual  creation,  as  permanence  involves  a  perpetual 

springing  forth  (n.  3[2j). 
MAMMON.— In  the  spiritual  sense  "the  mammom  of  unrighteousness  "  (Luke 


INDEX  573 

xvi.  8,  9)  means  the  knowledge  of  truth  and  good  possessed  by  the  evil, 
which  they  employ  solely  in  acquiring  lor  themselves  dignities  and 
wealth  (n.  250[5J). 

MAN.— As  man  is  his  own  love  he  is  also  a  form  of  bis  love,  and  may  be  called 
the  organ  of  his  life's  love  (n.  319[i]).  Man  by  creation  is  a  heaven  in  the 
least  form,  and  consequently  an  image  of  the  Lord  (n.  67).  Man  from 
birth  is  like  a  little  hell,  between  which  and  heaven  there  is  unceasing 
discordance  (n.  251[2],  296[ij).  If  man  were  born  into  the  love  into  which 
he  was  created  he  would  not  be  in  any  evil,  nor  would  he  even  know 
what  evil  is;  he  would  not  be  born  into  the  thick  darkness  of  ignorance 
as  every  man  now  is,  but  into  a  certain  light  of  knowledge  and  intelli- 
gence therefrom,  and  these  he  would  quickly  come  into  after  birth  (n. 
275).  He  alone  is  a  man  who  is  interiorly  what  he  wishes  to  seem  to 
others  to  be  (n.  298U]).  An  evil  man  is  a  hell  in  the  least  form,  as  a 
good  man  is  a  heaven  in  tiie  least  form  (n.  296[i3],  299,  306).  Heaven 
forms  one  beautiful  Man,  and  hell  one  monstrous  Man  (n.  293).  Every 
man  is  in  the  spiritual  world  in  some  society  there— an  evil  man  in  an 
infernal  society,  and  a  good  man  in  a  heavenly  society — and  sometimes 
when  in  deep  meditation  he  appears  there  (n.  296[6],  278[6]).  Heaven  in 
the  complex  resembles  a  single  man,  whose  life  or  soul  is  the  Lord.  In 
that  heavenly  Man  are  all  things  that  are  in  a  natural  man,  with  a  dif- 
ference like  that  between  heavenly  and  natural  things  (n.  326[9]).  The 
heavenly  Man,  which  is  heaven,  it  all  tl^ngs  are  to  be  in  it,  must  be 
composed  not  of  men  of  a  single  religion  but  ot  men  of  many  religions 
(n.  326[io]).  Every  man  is  both  in  evil  and  in  good,  in  evil  from  him- 
self and  in  good  from  the  Lord ;  nor  can  he  live  unless  he  is  in  both  (n. 
227[2]).  Man  lives  as  a  man  after  death  (n.  274[i],  324[4]).  Every  man  is 
held  in  equilibrium  between  heaven  and  hell  as  long  as  he  lives  in  the 
world,  and  by  means  of  this  he  is  held  in  freedom  to  think,  to  will,  to 
speak,  and  to  do;  and  in  this  it  is  possible  for  him  to  be  reformed  (n.  23). 
Man  must  put  away  evils  as  if  of  himself,  and  yet  must  acknowledge 
that  he  does  it  from  the  Lord  (n.  116).  Man  knows  his  thoughts  and 
consequent  intentions,  because  he  sees  them  in  himself  (n.  197).  If  man 
believed,  as  is  the  truth,  that  all  good  and  truth  are  from  the  Lord  and 
all  evil  and  falsity  from  hell,  he  would  not  appropriate  good  to  himself 
and  make  it  meritorious,  nor  appropriate  evil  to  himsell  and  make  him- 
self guilty  of  it  (n.  320).  If  man  clearly  saw  the  Divine  providence  he 
would  set  himself  against  the  order  and  tenor  of  its  course,  and  pervert 
and  destroy  it  (n.  180[i]).  Man  is  admitted  interiorly  into  truths  of  faith 
and  into  goods  of  charity  only  so  far  as  he  can  be  kept  in  them  until  the 
end  of  his  life  (n.  221).  It  has  not  been  hitherto  known  that  man  lives 
as  a  man  after  death.  Why  this  has  not  been  disclosed  before  (n.  274). 
There  is  a  correspondence  between  man's  life  and  the  growth  of  a  tree 
(n.  332).  Man  has  a  voluntary  self  (prnprium)  and  an  intellectual  self; 
the  voluntary  self  is  evil,  and  the  intellectual  self  is  falsity  therefrom; 
the  latter  is  meant  by  "the  will  of  man,"  and  the  former  by  "the  will  ot 
the  flesh,"  in  John  i.  13  (n.  298[s]).  A  mature  man  who  does  not  come 
into  liberty  itself  and  into  rationality  itself  in  the  world  can  in  no  wise 
come  into  them  after  death  (n.  99).  (See  MEN.) 

—  In  this  work  the  expression  "the  marriage  of  good  and  truth  "  is 
used  instead  of  "the  union  of  love  and  wisdom  "  (n.  7).  The  marriage 
of  good  and  truth  is  from  the  marriage  of  the  Lord  with  the  church;  and 
this  is  from  the  marriage  of  love  and  wisdom  in  the  Lord  (n.  21,  7,  8,  9). 
From  that  union  heaven  is  called  a  marriage  and  the  church  is  called  a 
marriage;  and  in  consequence  the  kingdom  of  God  is  likened  in  the 
Word  to  a  marriage  (n.  21).  As  there  was  by  creation  a  marriage  of 
good  and  truth  in  every  created  'thing,  and  as  this  marriage  was  after- 
wards severed,  the  Lord  must  be  continually  working  to  restore  it  (n.  9). 
Many  have  sundered  or  are  sundering  this  marriage,  especially  by  the 
separation  of  faith  from  charity  (n.  22).  In  each  and  in  all  things  of  the 


574  THE  'DIVINE 

Word  there  is  a  marriage  of  good  and  truth  (n.  21).  The  conjunction  of 
the  Loid  with  the  church  and  of  the  church  with  the  Lord  is  called  the 
celestial  and  spiritual  marriage  (n.  28[4],  84).  There  may  be  a  marriage 
of  good  and  truth  iu  the  cause,  and  there  may  be  a  marriage  of  good 
and  truth  irom  the  cause  in  the  effect.  A  marriage  of  good  and  truth 
in  the  cause  is  a  marriage  of  will  and  understanding,  that  is,  of  love  and 
wisdom  (n.  12).  The  love  of  self  and  the  conceit  from  that  love  are  like 
two  consorts,  and  their  marriage  is  called  the  marriage  of  evil  and  fals- 
ity (n.  298[3]). 

MASSES,  not  understood  by  the  common  people,  and  other  perversions,  are  of 
the  Divine  providence  that  the  holy  things  of  the  Word  and  of  the 
church  should  not  be  profaned  (n.  257[5,6]). 

MATURE  MAX. — A  mature  man  who  does  not  come  into  liberty  itself  and  ration- 
ality itself  in  the  world  can  in  no  wise  come  into  them  after  death,  for 
his  state  of  life  then  remains  forever  such  as  it  had  been  in  the  world 
(n.  99). 

MKANS. — Instantaneous  salvation  from  mercy  apart  from  means  is  impossible 
(n.  338).  The  Divine  providence  works  by  means,  and  the  means  are 
furnished  through  man  or  the  world  (n.  187[2]).  The  operation  of  the 
Divine  providence  goes  on  unceasingly  through  means,  out  of  pure 
mercy  (n.  335).  Its  means  are  the  things  whereby  man  becomes  a  man, 
and  is  perfected  in  respect  to  his  understanding  and  his  will  (n.  335). 
These  means  in  respect  to  his  understanding  are  called  truths  (n.  335[i]); 
and  in  respect  to  his  will  these  are  called  goodnesses  (n.  335[2]).  The 
means  whereby  man  is  led  by  the  Lord  are  what  are  called  the  laws  of 
the  Divine  providence  (n.  221,  249).  Means  of  separation,  purification, 
excretion,  and  withdrawal  of  the  delights  of  the  lusts  of  evil  belonging 
to  the  internal  man  (n.  296[io]).  The  means  of  salvation  relate  to  these 
two  points,  that  evils  must  be  shunned  and  there  is  a  God  (n.  329[i]). 
No  one  who  wishes  to  be  saved  will  be  left  without  a  knowledge  of  the 
means,  or  without  the  power  by  which  he  may  be  saved  (n.  32<)[3]).  The 
love  of  means  the  vicar  of  the  life's  love  (n.  109[2],  110).  The  salvation 
of  man  is  effected  by  means,  and  only  the  Lord  is  able  to  lead  man  in 
accordance  with  these  means  (n.  221). 

MEDIATELY.— The  Word  must  needs  be  taught  mediately,  through  parents, 
leaders,  preachers,  books,  and  especially  by  the  reading  of  it  That 
this  is  done  mediately  through  preaching  does  not  take  away  the  im- 
mediateness  (n.  172[6p.  (See  IMMEDIATE.) 

MEDITATIOX. — A  man  when  in  deep  meditation  sometimes  appears,  as  to  his 
spirit,  in  the  society  of  the  spiritual  world  in  which  he  is  (n.  293[6]). 

MELANCTHON  mentioned  (n.  50U]). 

MEMBRANES.— Of  those  who  constitute  membranes  in  the  Divine  Man,  that  is, 
heaven  (n.  254[s],  326[io]). 

MEMORY  is  the  state  of  the  changes  and  variations  in  the  form  of  the  purely  or- 
ganic substances  of  the  mind  that  remain  permanent  (n.  279[i]).  When 
truths  are  in  the  understanding  only,  and  irom  it  in  the  memory,  they 
are  not  in  the  man  but  outside  of  liirn  (n.  233[y]).  Man's  memory  may 
be  compared  to  the  ruminating  stomach  of  certain  animals,  into  which 
they  first  receive  their  food ;  and  so  long  as  it  is  there  it  is  not  within  but 
without  the  body;  but  when  they  draw  the  food  out  of  the  stomach  and 
eat  it,  it  becomes  a  part  of  their  life  and  the  body  is  nourished.  Man's 
memory  contains  spiritual,  not  material,  foods,  that  is,  truths,  which  in 
themselves  are  knowledges.  So  far  as  a  man  by  thinking,  or  as  it  were 
ruminating,  draws  these  from  the  memory  his  spiritual  mind  is  nour- 
ished (n.  233[8]).  Man  has  an  external  or  natural  memory  and  an  internal 
or  spiritual  memory.  Upon  his  internal  memory  each  and  every  thing 
that  he  has  thought,  spoken,  and  done  in  the  world  has  been  inscribed, 
so  completely  and  particularly  that  not  a  single  thing  is  lack  ing  (u. 
227[i]).  This  internal  memory  is  the  "book  of  man's  life"  which  is 
opened  after  death,  and  in  accordance  with  which  he  is  judged  (n.  227[i]). 


INDEX  575 

MEN.— Those  born  out  of  the  church  are  men  equally  with  those  born  within  it; 
they  are  from  the  same  heavenly  origin,  and  are  equally  living  and  im- 
mortal souls  (11.  330[5]). 

MERCY.— Immediate  mercy  is  impossible,  because  the  salvation  of  man  is 
effected  by  means  (n.  221).  It  is  an  error  of  the  age  to  believe  that  the 
state  of  a  man's  life  can  be  changed  instantly,  even  to  its  opposite,  and 
thus  from  being  evil  a  man  can  become  good,  and  in  consequence  be  led 
out  of  hell  and  transferred  straightway  into  heaven,  and  this  by  the 
Lord's  mercy  apart  from  means  (n.  279[i  J).  No  one  enters  heaven  out  of 
mercy  apart  from  means  (n.  33816]).  (See  SAFETY,  SALVATION.) 

MERITORIOUS.— The  good  that  has  man  in  it,  provided  it  has  salvation  as  its  end, 
is  a  meritorious  good ;  but  the  good  that  has  the  Lord  in  it  is  not  mer- 
itorious (n.  90).  If  man  believed  that  all  good  and  truth  are  from  the 
Lord  he  could  not  appropriate  good  to  himself  and  make  it  meritorious 
(n.  320). 

MESENTERY.— The  mesentery  elaborates  the  chyle  (n.  336,  164[6],  180[4],  296[i4]). 

MESOPOTAMIA,  one  of  the  countries  in  which  was  the  Ancient  Church,  and  in 
which  the  Ancient  Word  was  known  (n.  328|>]). 

MICE  (THE),  by  which  the  land  of  Ashdod  and  Ekron  was  laid  waste,  signified 
the  devastation  of  the  church  by  means  of  falsification  of  truth.  The 
"  five  golden  mice  "  sent  by  the  Philistines  with  the  ark  (1  Sam.  vi.)  sig- 
nified the  vastation  of  the  church  removed  by  good  (n.  326[i2]). 

MIND  (animus).—  The  face  is  a  type  of  the  mind  (n.  56[2]).  The  affections,  per- 
ceptions and  thoughts  constitute  the  mind  (n.  56[2]).  Of  a  kind  of  elation 
of  mind  (n.  279[s]).  No  one  is  reformed  in  unhealthy  mental  states,  be- 
cause they  take  away  rationality,  and  consequently  the  freedom  to  act 
in  accordance  with  reason.  The  mind  may  be  sick  and  unsound,  and 
while  a  sound  mind  is  rational  a  sick  mind  is  not  (n.  141).  There  is  a 
certain  quiet  and  peace  of  mind  that  especially  follows  combats  against 
evils  (n.  41). 

MlND  (mens).— The  mind  or  spirit  of  man  is  wholly  in  the  form  in  which 
heaven  is  or  in  which  hell  is;  there  is  not  the  slightest  difference,  except 
that  one  is  the  greatest  and  the  other  the  least  (n.  299).  The  human 
mind  is  of  three  degrees  (n.  75[i]).  Man  has  a  natural  mind,  a  spiritual 
mind,  and  a  celestial  mind ;  and  so  long  as  a  man  is  in  the  lusts  of  evil 
and  in  their  enjoyments  he  is  in  the  natural  mind  alone,  and  the  spirit- 
ual mind  is  closed  (n.  147).  The  natural  mind  is  common  to  man  and 
beast;  the  spirtiual  rational  mind 'is  the  truly  human  mind  (n.  321[a]). 
Man's  mind,  which  in  itself  is  spiritual,  must  needs  be  among  the  spirit- 
ual, and  becomes  among  such  after  death  (n.  3070]).  A.s  the  mind  is 
such  is  the  body,  thus  the  whole  man  (n.  112[i]).  The  mind  of  man  is 
continually  in  three  things,  called  end,  cause,  and  effect.  If  one  of 
these  is  lacking  the  human  mind  is  not  in  its  life  (n.  178[2]).  How  the 
Lord  governs  the  interiors  and  exteriors  of  man's  mind  (n.  307).  (See 
MIND  (animus).) 

MIRACLES.— No  one  is  reformed  by  miracles  and  signs,  because  they  compel 
(n.  130).  .A  faith  induced  by  miracles  is  not  faith  but  persuasion,  for 
there  is  nothing  rational  in  it,  still  less  anything  spiritual ;  it  is  only  an  ex- 
ternal without  an  internal  (n.  131).  The  effect  of  miracles  on  the  good  and 
on  the  evil  is  different  (n.  133).  The  good  do  not  desire  miracles,  but  they 
believe  in  the  miracles  recorded  in  the  Word,  and  when  they  hoar  any- 
thing about  a  miracle  they  give  thought  to  it  only  as  an  argument  of  no 
great  weight  that  confirms  their  faith  (n.  133).  The  evil  may  be  driven 
and  compelled  to  a  belief  by  miracles,  and  even  to  worship  and  piety, 
but  only  for  a  short  time  (n.  133).  Why  there  were  so  many  miracles 
among  the  descendants  of  Jacob  (n.  132).  Why  miracles  are  not  wrought 
at  this  day  (n.  133). 

MISFORTUNE.— No  one  is  reformed  in  a  state  of  misfortune  (n.  140).  By  states 
of  misfortune  are  meant  states  of  despair  from  danger,  as  in  battles, 
duels,  shipwrecks,  falls,  fires,  threatened  or  unexpected  loss  of  wealth  or 
of  office  and  thus  of  honors,  and  other  like  things  (11.  140). 


576  THE  'DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

MISUSE.— Man  has  the  ability  to  misuse  his  faculties  of  liberty  and  rationality, 
and  from  freedom  in  accordance  with  reason  to  confirm  whatever  he 
pleases  (n.  286[i]). 

MIXED.— What  is  not  distinct  is  mixed  up,  giving  rise  to  every  imperfection  of 
form  (n.  4r4]). 

MOABITKS.— Each  nation  with  which  the  children  of  Israel  waged  war  signified 
some  particular  evil  (n.  251[s]).  It  is  not  known  in  this  world  what 
kingdoms  in  Christendom  answer  to  the  Moahitcs  and  others  with  whom 
the  children  of  Israel  waged  war,  and  yet  there  are  those  who  do  answer 
to  them  (n.  251  [4]). 

MODES.— The  modes  of  Divine  providence  are  the  ways  by  which  man  becomes 
a  man  and  is  perfected  in  respect  to  his  understanding  and  will  (n. 
335[i]).  The  modes  by  which  the  Divine  providence  operates  upon  the 
means  and  by  the  means  to  form  man  and  to  perfect  him  are  infinite  in 
number  and  in  variety.  The  modes  are  most  secret  (n.  336). 

MOHAMMEDAN  RELIGION  (THE),  was  raised  up  by  the  Lord's  Divine  providence 
to  destroy  the  idolatries  of  many  nations  (n.  255[2,4]).  The  Moham- 
medan religion  acknowledges  the  Lord  as  the  Son  of  God,  as  the  wisest 
of  men,  and  as  a  very  great  prophet  who  came  into  the  world  to  teach 
men  (n.  255[i,3]).  This  religion  would  not  have  been  accepted  by  so 
many  kingdoms  if  it  had  not  been  adapted  and  suifed  to  the  ideas  of 
thought  and  to  the  life  of  them  all  (n.  255[4]).  All  of  that  religion  who 
acknowledge  the  Lord  as  the  Son  of  God  and  at  the  same  time  live  ac- 
cording to  the  commandments  of  the  decalogue,  which  they  have,  by 
shunning  evils  as  sins,  come  into  a  heaven  that  is  called  the  Moham- 
medan heaven  (n.  255fs]:  see  also  238). 

MOOR.— The  child  of  a  black  or  Moorish  father  by  a  white  or  European  woman  is 
black,  and  vice  versa  (n.  277ct[s]). 

MORAL.— The  civil  and  moral  man  can  also  become  spiritual,  for  the  civil  and 
moral  is  a  receptacle  of  the  spiritual  (n.  322[i]).  He  is  called  a  moral 
man  who  makes  the  laws  of  tlie  kingdom  wherein  he  is  a  citizen  his 
inorais  and  his  virtues,  and  from  reason  lives  them  (n.  322[i]). 

MORALISTS.— The  state  after  death  of  natural  moralists  who  believe  that  civil 
and  moral  life  with  its  prudence  accomplishes  everything  and  Divine 
providence  nothing  (n.  117[2]). 

MORAVIANS.— Moravianism  mentioned  among  heresies  (n.  259, 238);  as  enthusi- 
astic spirits  (n.  321  [3]). 

MORNING.— Why  Lucifer  is  called  "the  Son  of  the  morning"  in  Isaiah  xv.  19 
(n.  257[3l). 

MORTAL.— In  order  that  every  man  may  live  to  eternity  that  which  is  mortal  in 
him  is  taken  away  (n.  324[3]).  The  mortal  man  is  his  material  body,  and 
this  is  taken  away  by  its  death  (n.  324[s]). 

MOST  ANCIENT  CHURCH.— The  men  of  that  church  were  in  the  beginning  the 
wisest  of  men  (n.  241[i]). 

MOUTH.— In  Luke  vi.  45,  the  "mouth"  signifies  thought  which  pertains  to  the 
understanding  (n.  80).  In  the  spiritual  sense  the  "mouth"  means 
thought  because  thought  speaks  by  means  of  the  mouth  (n.  80). 

MOVEMENT.— Withdraw  effort  from  movement  and  movement  would  stop  (n. 
3[2]). 

MULTIPLICATIONS  (see.  FRUCTIFICATIONS). 

MUSCLES.— The  workings  of  both  brains  into  fibres,  of  fibres  into  muscles,  and 
muscles  into  actions  (n.  180[6]). 

MYRIADS.— Heaven  is  composed  of  myriads  of  myriads;  and  myriads  enter  it 
each  year,  and  will  continue  to  enter  into  it  to  eternity  (n.  63). 


NAILS.— Tt  is  known  that  in  man.  in  addition  to  forms  organized  of  blood  vessels 
and  nervous  fibres,  which  are  called  viscera,  there  are  skins,  membranes, 
tendons,  cartilages,  bones,  nails,  and  teeth  (n.  326[ioj).  (See  BONES.) 


INDEX  577 

NAKEDNESS.— The  "nakedness"  of  Adam  and  Eve  his  wife,  that  they  were  not 
ashamed  of,  signified  the  state  of  innocence  (n.  275). 

NAME.— In  the  Word  "  the  name  of  God  "  signifies  God  with  every  thing  that  is 
in  Him  and  that  goes  forth  from  Him.  And  as  the  Word  is  the  Divine 
going  forth,  which  is  "  the  name  of  God,"  and  as  all  the  Divine  things  that 
are  called  the  spiritual  things  of  the  church  are  from  the  Word,  they,  too, 
are  "  the  name  of  God  "  (n.  2300]).  In  the  spiritual  world  each  one  has 
a  name  that  is  in  harmony  with  the  quality  of  his  love  and  wisdom ;  for 
as  soon  as  any  one  enters  a  society  or  into  association  with  others,  he 
immediately  has  a  name  that  is  in  accord  with  his  character  (n.  230[i]). 
"Name  "  signifies  the  nature  of  the  state  of  love  and  wisdom  or  of  good 
and  truth  (n.  230U1).  Naming  is  effected  by  spiritual  language,  which  is 
such  that  it  is  capable  of  naming  every  thing  (n.  230[i]).  A  name  in- 
volves the  entire  state  of  the  thing  (n.  230[i]). 

NATIONS  are  distinguished  from  each  other  merely  by  the  face  (n.  277a|>]).  The 
nation  that  regards  the  precepts  of  the  decalogue  as  Divine  and  lives  ac- 
cording to  them  from  a  religious  motive  is  saved  (n.  254[>]).  Most 
nations  remote  from  Christendom  regard  these  not  as  civil  but  as  Divine 
laws,  and  hold  them  sacred  (n.  25i[2l).  In  the  earliest  times  tribes,  fam. 
ilies,  and  households  dwelt  apart  from  one  another,  and  not  under  general 
governments  as  at  the  present  day  (n.  215[2]).  When  a  religion  has  been 
once  implanted  in  a  nation  the  Lord  leads  that  nation  according  to  the 
precepts  and  dogmas  of  its  own  religion  (n.  254[2l).  (See  GENTILES.) 

NATURAL.— The  natural  does  not  communicate  with  the  spritual  by  continuity, 
but  by  correspondences  (n.  41).  Natural  and  temporal  things  are  not  only 
such  as  are  proper  to  nature  but  also  such  as  are  proper  to  men  in  the 
natural  world  (n.  220,4]).  Natural  things  that  are  proper  to  nature  have 
relation  in  general  to  times  and  spaces,  and  in  particular  to  the  things 
that  are  seen  on  the  earth  (n.  220U]). 

NATURALISTS.— Those  who  confirm  themselves  in  the  appearance  that  one's  own 
prudence  is  everything  and  the  Divine  providence  nothing  are  in  falla- 
cies; and  as  far  as  they  confirm  themselves  by  fallacies  they  become 
naturalists,  believing  nothing  but  what  they  are  able  to  perceive  by 
some  bodily  sense,  especially  by  the  sense  of  sight  (n.  310[i]). 

NATURE.— The  things  proper  to  nature  are  especially  spaces  and  times,  both  hav- 
ing limit  and  termination  (n.  219[i]).  The  extremes  or  outmosts  of 
nature  are  not  receptive  of  the  spiritual  and  eternal  things  in  conformity 
to  which  the  human  mind  was  formed  as  these  are  in  themselves  (n. 
220;3]). 

NEBUCHADNEZZAR.-B.V  the  statue  seen  by  Nebuchadnezzar  in  a  dream,  the  first 
four  churches  are  meant;  also  the  golden,  the  silver,  the  brazen,  and 
the  iron  ages  mentioned  by  ancient  writers  (n.  328[3]). 

NEIGHBOR.— In  what  loving  the  neighbor  as  one's  self  consists  (n.  94). 

NOAH.— The  Ancient  Church  is  depicted  in  the  Word  by  Noah  and  his  three  sons, 
and  by  their  posterity  (n.  328bl). 

NOSE. — The  nose  signifies  perception  of  truth.  The  closing  of  the  nose  in  the 
spiritual  world  means  that  they  have  no  perception  (n.  310[i]).  The  nose 
does  not  smell  from  itself,  but  it  is  man's  mind  or  spirit  that  there  per- 
ceives things  by  the  sense,  and  is  affected  by  the  sense  in  accordance 
with  its  nature  (n.  314[i]).  Man  knows  scarcely  anything  as  to  how  the 
nose  smells  (n.  336). 

OBOTFARDIGAS  FORBINDER  (Hindrances  or  Stumbling-blocks  of  the  Impenitent) 
(n.  258(51). 

ODORS.— Every  delight  corresponds  to  an  odor,  and  in  the  spiritual  world  may 
be  converted  into  an  odor.  The  general  delight  in  heaven  is  sensed  as 
the  odor  of  a  garden,  with  variety;. . .  .while  the  general  delight  of  hell 
sensed  as  stagnant  water  into  which  different  kinds  of  filth  have  been 
thrown  (n.  304). 


578  THE  ^lyiNE  TROYIDENCE 


OFFSPRING.—  The  parent's  evil  is  transmitted  to  the  offspring  (n.  281E4J). 

OIL  signifies  the  good  of  charity  (n.  32S[gJ). 

OLD.—  All  that  have  lived  well,  when  they  enter  heaven  come  into  an  age  like 
that  of  early  manhood  in  the  world,  and  continue  in  it  to  eternity,  even 
those  that  had  been  old  and  decrepit  in  the  world  Women  also,  al- 
though they  had  been  old  and  wrinkled,  return  into  the  flower  of  their 
age  and  beauty  (n.  324f4]). 

ONE.—  Divine  love  and  Divine  wisdom  go  forth  from  the  Lord  as  a  one  (n.  4jil). 
A  one  is  impossible  apart  from  a  form,  the  form  itself  making  the  one 
(n.  4|.2]).  The  form  makes  a  one  the  more  perfectly  as  the  things  enter- 
ing into  the  form  are  distinctly  different  and  yet  united  (n.  4(4]).  Man  is 
such  a  one,  human  society  is  such  a  one,  the  church  is  such  a  one,  also 
the  whole  angelic  heaven  before  the  Lord  (n.  4(3]).  How  perfectly  dis- 
tinct things  are  united  and  thus  make  a  one  (n.  4[$]). 

OPERATION.—  The  operation  and  progress  of  the  end  through  means  is  what  is 
called  the  Divine  providence  (n.  331[i]).  There  can  be  no  operation  ex- 
cept upon  a  subject,  and  upon  it  through  means  (n.  331[3]).  The  Divine 
providence  has  for  its  end  nothing  else  than  reformation  and  consequent 
salvation;  this  is  its  unceasing  operation  with  every  one  (n.  257[i])- 
Nothing  of  the  operation  of  the  Divine  providence  should  be  evident 
to  man's  perception  or  senses,  but  he  should  nevertheless  know  about 
it  and  acknowledge  it  (n.  175).  The  entire  working  (operation)  of  the 
Lord  is  from  first  principles  and  from  outmosts  simultaneously  (n. 
220[3]).  If  tne  operation  of  the  Divine  providence  were  made  evident  to 
man's  perception  and  senses  he  would  not  act  from  freedom  in  accord- 
ance with  reason,  nor  would  any  thing  seem  to  him  to  be  his  (n.  176(i]). 
The  Lord's  operations  in  the  interior  substances  and  forms  of  the  mind 
are  not  manifest  to  man  (n.  174[i]).  The  operations  of  the  organic  sub- 
stances of  the  body  are  natural,  while  those  of  the  mind  are  spiritual; 
and  the  two  make  one  by  correspondences  (n.  279(7]).  The  soul's  secret 
workings  (operations),  of  which  man  knows  nothing  because  he  has  no 
sensation  of  them  (n.  296[i4],  336).  The  operation  of  the  Lord's  Divine 
providence  in  conjoining  man  with  the  Lord,  and  the  Lord  with  man 
is  not  upon  any  particular  of  man  by  itself  except  as  it  is  simultaneously 
upon  all  things  of  man,  from  his  inmost  and  from  his  outmost  simul- 
taneously (n.  125).  The  operation  of  the  Lord's  Divine  providence  to 
withdraw  man  frcfm  evils  is  constant  (n.  177). 

OPPOSITKS  fight  each  other  till  one  destroys  the  other  (n.  18).  Two  opposites 
cannot  exist  together  in  one  substance  or  form  without  its  being  torn 
asunder  and  destroyed  (n.  233[2]).  Every  thing  is  known  from  its  op- 
posite (n.  38f2]).  An  opposite  may  take  away  perceptions  and  sensations 
or  may  exalt  them;  when  it  mingles  it.sell  it  takes  away,  but  when  it 
does  not  mingle  itself  it  exalts  (n.  24). 

OPPOSITION.—  The  affections  of  heaven  and  the  lusts  of  hell  are  diametrically 
opposed  to  each  other  (n.  303).  The  quality  of  a  good  is  known  only  by 
its  relation  to  what  is  less  good,  and  by  its  contrariety  (opposition)  to 
evil  (n.  24).  Opposition  destroys  (n.  1114J). 

OPULENCE.—  Opulence,  greater  or  less,  in  itself  is  but  an  imaginary  something 
(n.  250[2]).  Such  as  have  looked  to  riches  and  possessions  solely  for  their 
own  sake  and  for  what  can  be  gained  from  them,  after  death,  in  place  of 
riches  have  poverty,  and  in  place  of  possessions  wretchedness  (n.  220[io]). 
(See  RICHES,  POSSESSIONS,  WEALTH.) 

ORDER.—  As  God  is  order,  so  is  He  the  law  of  H-is  order  (n.  331[2]).  There  is  no 
order  possible  without  laws  (n.  331  [2]). 

ORGANIC  1  —  The  operation,  the  changes,  and  variations  in  the  state  and  form 

ORGANS.  /  of  organic  substances  (n.  279).  What  flows  into  the  organs  of  the 
external  senses,  or  those  of  the  body,  #,re  such  things  as  are  in  the 
natural  world,  while  what  flows  into  the  organic  substances  of  the  inter- 
nal senses,  or  those  of  the  mind,  are  such  things  as  are  in  the  spiritual 
world  (n.  308(2]).  As  the  organs  of  the  external  senses,  or  those  of  the 


INDEX  579 

body,  are  receptacles  of  natural  objects,  so  the  organic  substances  of  the 
internal  senses,  or  of  the  mind,  are  receptacles  of  spiritual  objects  (u 
30S[2]). 

ORGANIZATION,  t  —The  organization  taken  on  in  the  world  (by  those  who  deny 

ORGANIZE.  5  God)  remains  to  eternity  (n.  326[sp.  In  the  brain  there  are 
innumerable  substances,  and  there  is  nothing  there  that  is  not  organized 
(n.  279[6]). 

ORIENTALS.— Tiie  Christian  religion  is  not  adapted  to  the  genius  oi  the  Orientals 
like  the  Mohammedan  religion  (n.  256[i]). 

ORIGIN  OF  EVIL  (THE),  is  from  the  abuse  of  the  capacities  peculiar  to  man  that 
are  called  rationality  and  liberty  (n.  15). 

OUTERMOST.— There  is  a  constant  connection  between  the  outermosts  and  the 
inmosts;  consequently  as  the  outermost  acts  or  is  acted  upon  so  the 
interiors  from  the  inmosts  act  or  are  acted  upon  (n.  180[3l). 

OCTMOSTS. — The  Lord  acts  from  man's  inmosts  and  upon  the  unbroken  series 
to  outmosts.  The  things  that  are  in  man's  inmosts  and  in  the  series  from 
inmosts  to  outmosts  are  wholly  unknown  to  man  (n.  125).  Man's  out- 
mosts are  the  things  that  are  In  the  external  of  his  thought  (n.  125)  The 
Lord  acts  from  inmosts  and  from  outmosts  simultaneously  (n.  124, 
220(3]).  Intermediates  are  connected  in  unbroken  series  from  inmosts 
even  to  outmosts,  and  in  outmosts  they  are  together  (n.  124U]).  The 
outmosts  of  life  that  man  carries  With  him  after  deatli  become  quies 
cent,  and  are  in  harmony  with  his  interiors,  that  is,  they  act  as  one  (n. 
277b).  Outmosts  are  reformed  harmoniously  with  first  principles  while 
man  is  in  the  world,  and  cannot  be  reformed  afterward  (n.  277h). 

OWLS.— The  eyesight  of  the  angels  of  heaven  and  the  eyesight  of  the  spirits  of 
hell  illustrated  by  the  sight  of  owls  and  bats  (n.  167). 

OWNERS.— Those  who  ascribed  all  things  to  their  own  prudence  called  "  owners  " 
(n.  309[2]). 


PALACE  OP  WISDOM.— The  angels  said  they  represent  wisdom  to  themselves  as  a 
palace,  the  twelve  steps  to  which  signify  goods  conjoined  with  truths  and 
truths  conjoined  to  goods  (n.  36). 

PANCREAS  (n.  180U],  279[7]> ;  it  purifies  the  blood  (n.  336);  it  assorts  (n.  174). 

PARABLES.— Why  the  Lord  spoke  in  parables  (n.  231[g]). 

PARTICULAR.    (  —In  every  form,  the  general  and  the  particular,  or  the  universal 

PARTICULARS.  <,  and  the  special,  by  wonderful  conjunction  act  as  one  (n.  180UJ). 
That  is  called  universal  which  is  made  up  of  the  most  particular  things 
taken  together,  like  any  general  thing  that  exists  from  its  particulars  (n. 
201[2J).  The  Divine  providence  is  in  the  minutest  particulars  of  nature, 
and  in  the  minutest  particulars  of  human  prudence;  it  is  from  these 
that  it  is  universal  (n.  201[3]).  The  Lord's  Divine  providence  is  universal 
because  it  is  in  particulars,  and  it  is  particular  because  it  is  universal  (n. 

PAUL.— Explanation  of  Paul's  saying  (Rom.  iii.  28)  respecting  faith  apart  from 
works  (n.  115). 

PEOPLE.—  The  Israelitish  and  Jewish  people  represented  the  church  (n.  245). 

PERCEIVE.      t — If  the  operation  of  the  Divine  providence  were  made  evident 

PERCEPTION.  >  to  man's  perceptions  and  senses  he  would  not  act  from  freedom 
in  accordance  with  reason;  nor  would  anything  seem  to  him  to  be  his 
(n.  176[  i]).  The  quality  of  a  good  is  known  only  by  its  relation  to  what  is 
less  good,  and  by  its  contrariety  to  evil.  From  this  comes  all  power  to 
perceive  and  to  feel,  since  from  this  comes  the  quality  of  these  powers 
(n.  24).  Perceptions  and  thoughts  are  derivatives  of  spiritual  light  (n. 
173).  What  the  Lord  teacher  He  gives  to  man  the  ability  to  perceive 
rationally,  and  this  in  two  ways;  in  one  man  sees  in  himself  that  a  thing 
is  so  as  soon  as  he  hears  it;  in  the  other  he  understands  it  by  means  of 
reasons  (n.  15012]).  The  Divine  good  of  the  Divine  love  and  the  Divine 
truth  of  the  Divine  wisdom  are  given  to  the  evil  and  to  the  good,  to  the 


580  THE  UiriNE  VROYIDENCE 


just  and  to  the  unjust;  for  unless  they  were  given  no  one  would  have 
perception  and  thought  (n.  173).  Perception  and  thought  belong  to  life, 
consequently  they  are  from  the  same  fountain  from  which  life  is  (n.  173). 
(See  ENLIGHTENMENT,  THOUGHT.) 

PERFECT  (TO  BE).—  It  is  impossible  for  that  which  is  perfecting  to  eternity  to  be 
made  perfect  in  an  instant  (n.  338[io]).  Each  degree  of  wisdom  may  be 
perfected  to  its  highest  point,  but  it  cannot  enter  into  a  superior  degree 
(n.  34[2]). 

PERFECTIONS.—  All  perfections  increase  and  ascend  by  degrees  and  according  to 
degrees  (n.  279fp]). 

PERIPHERY  (see  CENTRE) 

PERISH.—  Unless  man  had  full  liberty  he  not  only  could  not  be  saved  but  would 
even  perish  utterly  (n.  281  [i]). 

PERITONEUM  is  the  general  sheath  of  all  the  abdominal  viscera  (n.  180[4]). 

PERMANENCE  involves  a  perpetual  springing  forth  (n.  3[2]). 

PERMISSION.  —  There  are  no  laws  of  permission  by  themselves,  or  apart  from  the 
laws  of  the  Divine  providence  (u.  234).  The  Divine  providence  witli  the 
evil  is  a  continual  permission  of  evil,  to  the  end  that  there  may  be 
a  continual  withdrawal  from  it  (n.  296[7J).  It  is  not  the  Lord  but  man 
that  introduces  evil  of  life  into  the  will,  and  through  the  will  into  the 
thought.  This  is  what  is  called  permission  (n.  296[7]).  All  things  that  an 
evil  man  wills  and  thinks  are  of  permission  (n.  296{8J).  Evils  are  permit- 
ted for  the  sake  of  the  end,  which  is  salvation  (n.  249(3],  ??5'  276M,  281). 
The  laws  of  Divine  providence  are  the  causes  of  permissions  (n.  249[2]). 
Nothing  can  be  permitted  without  a  reason,  and  the  reason  can  be  found 
only  in  some  law  of  the  Divine  providence,  which  law  teaches  why  it  is 
permitted  (n.  234).  When  God  is  said  to  permit,  it  is  not  meant  that  He 
wills,  but  that  on  account  of  the  end,  which  is  salvation,  He  cannot 
avert  it;(n.  234).  The  Lord  permits  evils  of  life  and  many  heresies  in 
worship  that  man  may  not  fall  into  the  most  grievous  kind  of  profan- 
ation (n.  233[isl).  (See  PROFANATION.) 

PHARISEES.—  Those  who  say  with  the  lips  pious  and  holy  things,  and  counterfeit 
the  affections  of  love  for  these  in  tone  and  in  gesture,  and  yet  in  heart  do 
not  believe  them  or  love  them,  are  "  Pharisees,"  from  whom  after  death 
all  truth  and  good  are  taken  away  (n.  231  [4]). 

PHILISTIA.—  Not  long  after  the  establishment  of  the  church  it  was  turned  into  a 
Babylon,  and  afterwards  into  a  Philistia  (n.  204[2].  By  "Philistia"  is 
meant  faith  separate  from  charity  (n.  264[3J). 

PHILISTINES.—  Those  that  make  faith  alone  saving,  and  not  a  life  of  charity,  are 
meant  in  the  Word  by  "  Philistines  "  (n.  258[i],  326[i2],-251). 

PLACES.  —  The  Lord  foresees  the  places  in  hell  of  those  who  are  not  willing  to  be 
saved,  and  the  places  in  heaven  of  those  who  are  willing  to  be  saved 
(n.  333[2]).  The  Lord  provides  their  places  for  the  evil  by  permitting  and 
by  withdrawing,  and  for  the  good  by  leading  (n.  333[2]).  In  the  spiritual 
world,  in  another's  apartment  no  one  can  sit  anywhere  except  in  his  own 
place;  if  he  sits  elsewhere  he  loses  his  self-possession  and  becomes  dumb 
(n.  338U]).  Whenever  one  enters  another's  room  there  he  knows  his  own 
place  (n.  338U]). 

PLEASANTNESS  (see  ENJOYMENT,  DELIGHT). 

PLEASURES  (THE),  of  lusts  for  evil  and  the  pleasures  of  affections  for  good  cannot 
be  compared.  The  devil  is  inwardly  in  the  pleasures  of  lusts  for  evil 
and  the  Lord  is  inwardly  in  the  pleasures  of  affections  for  good  (n.  40). 

PLEURA,  the  general  sheath  of  the  chest  (n.  180[3]). 

PLEURISY  (n.  180). 

POISON.—  Except  for  liberty  to  think  and  will  evils  and  to  put  these  away  as  if  of 
himself,  combined  with  the  Divine  providence,  evils  would  be  like  poison 
kept  in  and  not  expelled,  which  would  soon  spread  and  carry  death  to 
the  whole  system  ;  or  like  a  disease  of  the  heart  itself  from  which  the 
whole  body  soon  dies  (n.  184). 
POLYGAMISTS.—  A  religion  that  makes  it  unlawful  to  marry  more  than  one  wife 


INDEX  38 1 

is  not  accepted,  but  is  rejected  by  those  who  for  ages  have  been  polygam- 
ists  (n.  256UJ). 

POSSESSIONS.— Eternal  things  relate  to  spiritual  honors  and  possessions,  which 
pertain  to  love  and  wisdom  in  heaven  (n.  216[i]).  The  natural  man  calls 
honors  and  possessions  Divine  blessings  (n.  216[i]).  Honors  and  posses- 
sions may  be  blessings  and  also  may  be  curses  (n.  2161.2]) ;  they  are  bless- 
ings to  those  who  do  not  set  their  hearts  upon  them,  and  curses  to  those 
who  do  set  their  hearts  upon  them  (n.  217UJ).  When  dignities  and  pos- 
sessions are  blessings  they  are  spiritual  and  eternal,  and  when  they  are 
curses  they  are  temporal  and  perishable  (n.  21713]).  Riches  and  posses- 
sions are  natural  and  temporal  with  those  who  look  solely  to  them,  and 
to  themselves  in  them  ;  but  these  same  things  are  spiritual  and  eternal 
with  those  who  look  to  good  uses  in  them  (n.  2201 10]).  The  love  of  riches 
and  possessions  for  the  sake  of  riches  and  possessions  is  the  love  of  the 
world,  strictly,  the  love  of  possessing  the  goods  of  others  by  any  device 
whatever  (n.  215[6]).  (See  OPULENCE,  RICH  us,  WEALTH.) 

POWER.— The  power  (posse)  to  will  and  the  power  to  understand  are  not  from 
man,  but  are  from  Him  who  possesses  Power  itself,  that  is,  Power  in 
its  essence  (n.  88[i]).  Every  cn-ated  thing  is  endowed  with  power  (vis); 
but  power  acts  not  from  itself  but  from  Him  who  bestowed  the  power  (n. 
3[s]).  Before  the  last  judgment  the  power  (potentia)  of  hell  prevailed 
over  the  power  of  heaven  (n.  263[s]).  The  wicked  all  believe  themselves 
to  be  powerful,  while  the  good  all  believe  themselves  to  be  destitute  of 
power  (n.  19[2j).  Power  in  the  seed  is  from  God  the  Creator  (n.  3[2]). 

PRATER  (THE  LORD'S).— The  words  "Hallowed  be  Thy  name"  mean  that  this 
name  must  not  be  profaned  (n.  230[i  ]). 

PREACHERS.— The  Word  must  needs  be  taught  mediately  through  preachers  ; 
nevertheless  it  is  not  taught  by  them  but  by  the  Lord  through  them  (n. 
172[6J).  A  preacher  can,  while  in  the  external  state,  teach  things  pertain- 
ing to  spiritual  life,  but  when  from  this  external  state  he  is  let  into  the 
internal,  if  he  is  an  evil  man  he  sees  nothing  but  falsity  and  does  nothing 
but  evil  (n.  298[i]). 

PRECEPTS.— The  Lord  has  provided  that  there  shall  be  in  every  religion  precepts 
like  those  in  the  decalogue  (n.  254[2]).  "To  have  the  commandments  " 
(John  xiv.  21,  23)  is  to  know;  and  to  keep  them  is  to  love  (n.  33[s]). 

PREDESTINATION.— Any  predestination  except  to  heaven  is  contrary  to  the  Di- 
vine love  (n.  330[2]).  That  any  of  the  human  race  have  been  damned  by 
predestination  is  a  cruel  heresy  (n.  33018J). 

PREDESTINED.— All  men  were  predestined  to  heaven,  and  no  one  to  hell  (n. 
32212],  329[i]). 

PREDICATE.— Whatever  has  existence  derives  from  form  that  which  is  called 
quality,  and  that  which  is  called  predicate  (n.  4[2]). 

PRESENCE.— When  any  one  in  the  spiritual  world  is  thinking  about  another  from 
a  desire  to  speak  with  him,  the  other  immediately  becomes  present,  and 
they  see  each  other  face  to  face  (n.  29[i  i,  50,  326).  He  who  does  not  love 
another,  or  still  more,  he  who  hates  another,  does  not  see  or  meet  him. 
They  are  distant  in  the  degree  of  the  hate  or  absence  of  love  (n.  326[2J). 
Presence  comes  from  the  remembrance  of  another  with  a  desire  to  see 
him  (n.  326[s]).  The  reason  is  that  in  the  spiritual  world  there  is  no  dis- 
tance as  in  the  natural  world,  but  only  an  appearance  of  distance  (n. 
326[iJ).  With  every  man  there  are  spirits  present,  and  they  are  as  really 
present  as  if  the  man  were  included  in  their  society  (n.  50[2l).  Space  and 
time  have  nothing  to  do  with  that  presence,  because  affection  and  thought 
from  it  are  not  in  space  and  time;  and  spirits  and  angels  are  affections 
and  thoughts  therefrom  (n  50[2]). 

PRESENT.— Who  they  are  who  think  from  what  is  present  in  the  world  and  not 
from  what  is  present  in  heaven  (n.  59).    How  any  one  in  the  spiritual 
world  shows  himself  present  (n.  29,  50).     (See  PRESENCE.) 
PRESERVATION  (see  CONSERVATION)  (n.  3(3]). 
PRIDE  IN  ONE'S  INTELLIGENCE  (n.  197UJ,  206Li],  321[8]). 


582  THE  VI^INE  YROWDENCE 

PRINCE  OF  THE  WORLD.— That  honors  and  possessions  are  bestowed  by  the  devil 
is  confessed,  lor  from  this  he  is  called  the  Prince  of  the  world  (n.  2161.2]). 

PRINCIPLES.— In  every  man  there  are  two  principles  of  life,  the  one  natural  and 
the  other  spiritual  ;  the  natural  principle  of  Hie  being  the  heart's  pulsa- 
tion, and  the  spiritual  principle  of  life  the  life's  volition  (n.  193t2]). 

PROCEED  (TO).— Difference  between  creating  and  proceeding  (n.  219[2]).  Nothing 
can  proceed  from  any  one  except  what  is  in  him  (n.  219[2j).  Nothing 
but  what  is  temporal  can  proceed  from  man,  and  nothing  but  what  is 
eternal  from  the  Lord  (n.  219[2]).  Of  all  that  goes  forth  (from  the  Lord) 
the  Divine  providence  is  primary  (n.  331). 

PROCEEDING  (THE  DIVINE).— The  Infinite  and  Eternal  from  itself  is  the  Divine 
going  forth,  that  is,  the  Lord  in  others  created  from  Himself,  thus  in 
men  and  in  angels  (n.  55).  This  Divine  going  forth  is  the  same  as  the 
Divine  providence  (n.  55). 

PRODUCE  (TO).— What  is  produced  does  not  proceed,  but  is  created  (n.  219) 
(.See  TO  PROCEED.) 

PROFANATION.— In  the  most  general  sense  profanation  means  all  impiety  (n.229). 
There  are  many  kinds  of  profanation  of  what  is  holy  (n.  226,  229-233), 
some  lighter  and  some  more  grievous,  but  they  may  be  referred  to  seven 
kinds  (n.  23l[i]).  The  worst  kind  of  profanation  (n.  229).  He  that  upholds 
evil  loves  does  violence  to  Divine  goods,  and  this  violence  is  called  adul- 
teration of  good  (n.  231[3l).  In  the  Word,  adulterations  of  good  are  depict 
ed  by  adulteries,  and  falsifications  of  truth  by  whoredoms  (n.  233[io]). 
These  adulterations  and  falsifications  are  effected  by  reasonings  from  the 
natural  man,  which  is  in  evil  (n.  233[io]).  (See  TO  PROFANE.) 

PROFANE  (THE)  are  those  who  profess  to  believe  in  God,  who  assert  the  holiness 
of  the  Word,  and  who  acknowledge  the  spiritual  things  of  the  church,  the 
most  of  whom,  however,  only  with  the  mouth  (n.  229).  Such  commit 
profanation,  for  the  reason  that  what  is  holy  from  the  Word  is  in  them 
and  with  them ;  and  this  which  is  in  them  and  which  makes  some  part 
of  their  understanding  and  will  they  profane ;  but  in  the  impious  who 
deny  the  Divine  and  Divine  things  there  is  nothing  that  can  be  profaned 
(n.  229). 

PROFANE  (TO).— Those  who  profane  holy  things  by  mixing  them  with  things  pro- 
fane are  such  as  first  accept  and  acknowledge  them  and  afterwards  back- 
slide and  deny  (n.  228[i]).  The  seventh  kind  of  profanation  is  committed 
by  those  who  first  acknowledge  Divine  truths  and  live  according  to  them, 
but  afterwards  recede  and  deny  them.  This  is  the  worst  kind  of  profan- 
ation (n.  231[7],  232).  What  is  meant  by  "profaning  the  name  of  God  " 
(n.  230!2|). 

PROFANERS  mean  all  the  impious  who  in  heart  deny  God.  the  holiness  of  the 
Word  and  the  spiritual  things  of  the  church  therefrom,  which  are  essen- 
tially holy  things,  and  who  also  speak  impiously  of  these  (n.  229).  Only 
those  who  have  a  knowledge  of  holy  things  can  profane  them  (n.  257[s]). 
Difference  between  profaner  and  the  profane  (n  229).  (See  TO  PROFANE.) 

PROGRESSION.— Each  thing  and  all  things  in  the  growth  of  every  shrub  and 
every  herb  of  the  field  goes  forth  regularly  and  wonderfully  from  end  to 
end,  according  to  the  laws  of  their  order.  There  can  be  nothing  that  in 
its  progress  does  not  co  on  most  regularly  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of 
the  Divine  providence  (n.  332' 2]).  There  must  needs  be  a  regular  pro- 
gression in  the  reformation  and  regeneration  of  men  (n.  332f4]).  Every 
created  thing  goes  forth  from  a  First,  which  is  the  Infinite  and  Eternal, 
to  things  last.  And  from  things  last  to  the  First  from  whom  it  came  (n. 
56). 

PROPHET.— The  "name"  and  "reward  of  a  prophet"  (Matt.  x.  41,  42),  mean  the 
state  and  the  happiness  of  those  who  are  in  Divine  truths  (n.  230[3]). 

PROPRIUM  (THE)  (see  SELF,  ONE'S  OWN). 

PROVIDE  (TO).— The  Lord  provides  that  every  one  may  be  saved  (n  328(8]).  It  is 
provided  by  the  Lord  that  a  new  church  should  take  the  place  of  a  former 
devastated  church  (n.  328[io!). 


INDEX  583 

PROVIDENCE  (THE  DIVINE),  is  the  government  of  the  Lord's  Divine  love  and  Di- 
vine wisdom  (n.  1,  2,  331,  337).  Whence  the  Divine  providence  is  and  what 
it  is  (n.  207).  The  restoration  of  the  marriage  of  good  and  truth  in  every 
created  thing,  and  the  consequent  conjunction  of  the  created  universe 
with  the  Lord  through  man,  must  be  the  end  of  the  Divine  providence 
(n.  9).  The  Divine  providence  has  as  its  end  a  heaven  consisting  of  men 
who  have  become  or  are  becoming  angels  (n.  2712],  202).  The  Divine  pro- 
vidence looks,  in  every  thing  that  it  does,  to  what  is  infinite  and  eternal 
(n.  46).  The  Infinite  and  Eternal  in  itself  must  needs  look  to  what  is  in- 
finite and  eternal  from  itself  in  things  finite  (n.  52,  58).  The  Divine  pro- 
vidence in  its  whole  progress  with  man  looks  to  his  eternal  state  (n.  59). 
The  laws  of  the  Divine  providence  heretofore  hidden  in  the  wisdom  of 
of  angels  are  now  revealed  (n.  TOfe]).  It  is  a  law  of  the  Divine  providence 
that  man  should  act  from  freedom  in  accordance  with  reason  (n.  71,  97). 
It  is  a  law  of  the  Divine  providence  that  man  should  as  if  from  himself 
put  away  evils  as  sins  in  the  external  man  (n.  100).  It  is  a  law  of  the  Di- 
vine providence  that  man  should  not  be  compelled  by  external  means  to 
think  and  will,  and  thus  to  believe  and  love,  the  things  of  religion,  but 
should  guide  himself  and  sometimes  compel  himself  (n.  129).  It  is  a  law 
of  the  Divine  providence  that  man  should  be  led  and  taught  by  the  Lord 
from  heaven  by  means  of  the  Word  and  by  means  of  doctrine  and 
preaching  from  the  Word,  and  this  to  all  appearance  as  if  by  himself  (n. 
154).  It  is  a  law  of  the  Divine  providence  that  nothing  of  the  operation 
of  the  Divine  providence  should  be  evident  to  man's  perceptions  or 
senses,  but  that  he  should,  nevertheless,  know  about  it  and  acknowledge 
it  (n.  175).  If  the  operation  of  the  Divine  providence  were  made  evident 
to  man's  perceptions  and  senses  he  would  not  act  from  freedom  in  ac- 
cordance with  reason,  nor  would  anything  seem  to  him  to  be  his  (n.  176). 
If  man  clearly  saw  the  Divine  providence  he  would  set  himself  against 
the  order  and  tenor  of  its  course,  and  would  pervert  and  destroy  it  (n. 
180).  If  man  clearly  saw  the  Divine  providence,  either  he  would  deny 
God  or  he  would  make  himself  to  be  God  (n.  182).  The  Divine  provid- 
ence never  acts  in  accord  with  the  will's  love  in  man,  but  constantly 
against  it.  (n.  183[i],  234).  The  Lord  in  His  Divine  providence  leads  men 
as  silently  as  a  hidden  current  or  favoring  tide  bears  a  vessel  (n.  186).  It 
is  granted  man  to  see  the  Divine  providence  in  the  back  and  not  in  the 
face;  and  to  see  it  in  a  spiritual  state  and  not  in  his  natural  state.  To 
see  the  Divine  providence  in  the  back  and  not  in  the  face  is  to  see  it  after 
it  occurs  and  not  before  (n.  187[i]).  The  Divine  providence  works  by 
means,  and  the  means  are  furnished  through  man  or  the  world  (n.  187b]). 
The  man  who  has  become  spiritual  by  the  acknowledgment  of  God,  and 
wise  by  a  rejection  of  what  is  his  own  (proprium),  sees  the  .Divine  pro- 
vidence in  the  whole  world  and  in  all  and  each  of  the  tilings  in  it  (n. 
189[i]).  The  Divine  providence,  because  of  it  minute  particulars  is  uni- 
versal (n.  191,  202).  The  Divine  providence  is  in  the  minutest  particulars 
of  nature  and  in  the  minutest  particulars  of  human  prudence,  and  it  is 
from  these  that  it  is  universal  (n.  201[sl).  The  Divine  providence,  in 
order  that  man  may  not  perish,  works  so  secretly  that  scarcely  any  one 
knows  of  its  existence  (n.  211[i]).  The  Divine  providence  by  constancy 
and  by  change  deals  wonderfully  with  human  prudence,  and  yet  con- 
ceals itself  (n.  212U1).  The  Divine  providence  looks  to  eternal  things, 
and  to  temporal  tilings  only  so  far  as  they  make  one  with  eternal  things 
(n.  214).  The  conjunction  of  temporal  things  and  eternal  things  in  a 
man  is  the  Lord's  Divine  providence  (n.  220[i]).  All  the  laws  of  the 
Divine  providence  have  for  their  end  the  reformation  and  consequent 
salvation  o(  man  (n.  279[4l).  The  Divine  providence  is  equally  with  the 
evil  and  with  the  good  (n.  285).  The  Divine  providence,  not  only  with  the 
good  but  with  the  evil  as  well,  is  universal  in  every  least  particular,  and 
yet  it  is  not  in  their  evils  (n.  287).  The  Divine  providence  appropriates 
neither  good  nor  evil  to  any  one ;  but  man's  own  prudence  appropriates 


584  THE  "VIVINE   TROYIDENCE 

both  (n.  308).  The  Lord  cannot  act  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  Divine 
providence,  because  acting  contrary  to  them  would  be  acting  contrary 
to  His  Divine  love  and  contrary  to  His  Divine  wisdom,  thus  contrary  to 
Himself  (n.  331).  The  subject  of  the  Divine  providence  is  man,  the  means 
the  Divine  truths  whereby  man  gains  wisdom  and  the  Divine  goods 
whereby  he  gains  love  (n.  331[3J).  The  Divine  providence  does  all  things 
out  of  pure  mercy  (n.  337).  The  operation  of  the  Divine  providence  for 
the  salvation  of  man  begins  at  his  birth  and  continues  until  the  end  of 
his  life  and  afterwards  to  eternity  (n.  332,  333).  Looking  to  what  is  in- 
finite and  eternal  in  the  formation  of  the  angelic  heaven,  that  it  may  be 
before  the  Lord  as  one  Man  which  is  an  image  of  Himself,  is  the  inmost 
of  the  Divine  providence  (n.  64,  67,  68).  The  inmost  of  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence respecting  hell  (n.  69).  Who  those  who  acknowledge  God  and 
His  Divine  providence  are  like,  and  who  those  who  acknowledge  nature 
and  their  own  prudence  (n.  208).  Man's  own  (proprium)  has  an  inborn 
enmity  against  the  Divine  providence  (n.  211[i]).  Arguments  of  those 
who  confirm  themselves  against  the  Divine  providence  (n.  236-240).  Ar- 
guments refuted  (n.  241-274).  (See  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.) 

PRUDENCE  is  from  God,  and  not  from  man  (n.  191[2]).  That  man's  own  prudence 
is  nothing  is  wholly  contrary  to  appearance  (n.  191[i]).  Prudence  has  no 
other  source  than  intelligence  and  wisdom  (n.  191[iJ).  Man's  own  prud- 
ence is  from  the  love  of  self  and  from  conceit  in  his  own  intelligence 
(n.  321|8]).  Human  prudence  is  nothing  (n.  70[i]).  Man's  own  prudence 
is  nothing;  it  merely  appears  to  be  something,  and  should  so  appear  (n. 
191).  Man  from  his  own  prudence  persuades  himself  and  corroborates  in 
himself  that  all  good  and  truth  are  from  himself  and  in  himself,  likewise 
all  evil  and  falsity  (n.  312[i  ]).  Two  priests  in  the  spiritual  world  disputing 
with  a  royal  ambassador  about  human  prudence  (n.!97[2]).  Whence  man's 
prudence  is  and  what  it  is  (n.  206,  316,  321[8]).  What  one's  own  prudence 
is  and  what  prudence  not  one's  own  is  (n.  310-326).  Who  those  are  who 
acknowledge  nature  and  their  own  prudence  (n.  208).  Prudence  is  the 
"talent"  given  the  servants  to  trade  with  (Lukexix. ;  Matt,  xxv.)  (n. 
210[2p. 

PRUDENTLY.— He  who  thinks  and  acts  prudently  as  if  from  himself  and  at  the 
same  time  acknowledges  that  he  does  it  from  the  Lord  is  a  man,  while 
he  who  confirms  in  himself  that  every  thing  he  thinks  and  does  is  from 
himself  is  not  a  man  (n.  32l[i]). 

PUNISHMENT.— Its  own  punishment  follows  every  evil;  it  is  as  if  its  punishment 
were  inscribed  upon  the  evil,  and  this  punishment  the  wicked  man  en- 
dures after  death  (n.  249[s]).  No  one  is  reformed  by  threats  and  punish- 
ments, because  they  compel  (n.  136[i]).  (See  COMPEL.) 

PURIFICATION  is  effected  in  two  ways,  one  by  temptations,  the  other  by  ferment- 
ations (n.  25).  All  cleansing  from  evils  is  from  the  Lord  (n.  151[a]).  The 
Lord's  Divine  providence  causes  the  evil  and  the  falsity  that  are  to- 
gether to  be  serviceable  in  the  way  of  equilibrium,  of  relation,  and  of 
purification,  and  thus  in  the  conjunction  of  good  and  truth  in  others  (n. 
21,  25).  Means  of  purification  and  withdrawal  of  the  delights  of  the  lusts 
of  evil  belonging  to  the  internal  man  (n.  296[io]).  (See  CLEANSING.) 

PURPOSE.— To  think  from  purpose  is  to  will  and  to  do  (n.  152).  Purposes  are 
thoughts  from  the  will  (n.  152).  (See  INTENTION.) 

QUADRUPED. — At  first  man  would  creep  like  a  quadruped,  but  with  an  inherent 
endeavor  to  raise  himself  upon  his  feet  (n.  275). 

QUAKERS  classed  with  heretics  (n.  259,  238);  and  enthusiastic  spirits  (n.  321). 

QUALITY.— Whatever  has  existence  derives  from  form  that  which  is  called  qual- 
ity (n.  4[2]).  (See  FORM.) 


INDEX  585 

RAIN  (in  Matt.  v.  45,  as  elsewhere  in  the  Word)  means  the  Divine  truth  of  the 
Divine  wisdom  (n.  173,  292). 

RATIONAL  (THE)  of  those  who  are  both  in  the  appearance  and  in  the  truth  is  a 
spiritual-rational,  while  the  rational  of  those  who  are  in  the  appearance 
apart  from  the  truth  is  a  natural-rational  (n.  154[3]).  The  natural-ration- 
al may  be  likened  to  a  garden  as  it  is  in  the  light  of  winter,  while  the 
spiritual-rational  may  be  likened  to  a  garden  as  it  is  in  the  light  of  spring 
(n.  154' 3D-  Those  who  are  rationally  blind  (n.  168[s]). 

RATIONALITY  is  the  faculty  of  understanding  (n.  73[i,3]).  Unless  man  possessed 
a  will  from  the  faculty  that  is  called  liberty  and  an  understanding  from 
the  faculty  that  is  called  rationality  he  would  not  be  a  man  (n.  96[4], 
98[i],  167,  227,  285).  Rationality  and  liberty  are  in  man  from  the  Lord  (n. 
73[i]).  Rationality  itself  is  from  spiritual  light,  and  not  at  all  from 
natural  light  (n.  167).  It  is  the  light  of  heaven  which  gives  enlighten- 
ment (n.  168[2|).  By  rationality  a  man  may  be  raised  up  into  wisdom  al- 
most angelic  (n.  222[i]).  Those  that  are  in  hell  have  the  ability  to 
understand  that  is  called  rationality,  but  the  spiritual  light  which  these 
have  from  rationality  is  changed  into  infernal  light  (n.  167).  (See 
FACULTY,  LIBERTY,  THE  RATIONAL.) 

RAVEN.— The  "raven  "  used  to  illustrate  the  confirmation  of  a  falsity  (n.  318UP. 

REASON  (TO).— The  Lord  is  willing  that  a  man  should  think  and  talk  about  Di- 
vine things,  and  also  reason  about  them  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  a 
thing  to  be  so  or  not  so  (n.  219[s]). 

REASONERS.— Sensual  men  are  above  others  shrewd  and  cunning,  and  ingen- 
ious reasoners,  and  they  call  shrewdness  and  cunning  intelligence  and 
wisdom,  nor  do  they  know  otherwise  (n.  310[2]). 

RECEPTACLE.— Man  was  created  that  he  might  be  a  receptacle  of  the  Divine 
love  and  of  the  Divine  wisdom  (n.  328[5l).  How  a  civil  and  moral  life 
is  a  receptacle  of  spiritual  life  (n.  322[>1). 

RECIPIENT.— For  good  to  be  good  in  itself,  and  for  truth  to  be  truth  in  itself, 
they  must  make  one  in  the  recipient,  that  is,  in  an  angel  of  heaven  or 
a  man  on  the  earth  (n.  10). 

RECIPROCAL.— The  conjunction  of  the  Lord  with  man,  and  the  reciprocal  con- 
junction of  man  with  the  Lord  is  effected  by  means  of  the  faculties  of 
rationality  and  liberty  (n.  92,  96[6]).  There  is  no  conjunction  of  minds 
unless  it  is  reciprocal,  and  the  reciprocation  is  what  conjoins  (n.  92[2]). 
What  the  reciprocal  in  man  is  (n.  92(3]).  The  reciprocal  conjunction  of 
angels  with  the  Lord  is  not  from  the  angels,  but  as  if  it  were  from  them 
(n.  28[4]). 

REFORM  (TO).— The  external  man  must  be  reformed  by  means  of  the  internal, 
and  not  the  reverse  (n.  150).  Man  is  not  reformed  unless  the  external  is 
reformed  as  well  as  the  internal  (n.  151  [i]).  The  external  is  reformed  by 
means  of  the  internal  when  the  external  refrains  from  the  evils  that 
the  internal  does  not  will  because  they  are  infernal,  and  still  more 
when  the  external  for  this  reason  shuns  evils  and  fights  against  them 
(n.  151[i]).  It  is  by  means  of  the  faculties  called  rationality  and 
liberty  that  man  is  reformed  and  regenerated  by  the  Lord,  and  without 
them  he  cannot  be  reformed  and  regenerated  (n.  82,  85,  96[5]).  No  one 
is  reformed  by  miracles  and  signs  (n.  130);  nor  by  visions  or  conversa- 
tions with  the  dead  (n.  134);  nor  by  threats  and  punishments  (n.  136); 
nor  in  states  that  do  not  spring  from  rationality  and  liberty  (n.  138).  No 
one  is  reformed  in  a  state  of  fear  (n.  139) ;  or  in  a  state  of  misfortune  (n. 
140);  nor  in  unhealthy  mental  states  (n.  141);  nor  in  a  state  of  bodily 
disease  (n.  142);  nor  in  states  of  ignorance  (n.  143).  After  death  man 
can  no  longer  bf>  reformed  and  regenerated:  he  remains  such  as  his 
ruling  love  has  been  in  this  world  (n.  17).  Without  a  knowledge  and 
recognition  of  the  evils  and  falsities  and  the  goods  and  truths"  of  his 
life  and  doctrine  in  himself,  man  cannot  be  reformed  (n.  16).  How  the 
internal  man  is  reformed,  and  the  external  by  means  of  it  (n.  151). 


586  THE  VIISINE  T>ROYIDENCE 


REFORMATION.—  All  reformation  is  effected  in  completeness,  that  is,  simultane- 
ously in  first  principles  and  in  outmosts;  and  outmosts  are  reformed 
harmoniously  with  first  principles  while  man  is  in  the  world  (n.  277b). 
Why  man  cannot  be  reformed  afterwards  (n.  2776).  Man  comes  into  the 
state  of  reformation  when  he  begins  to  think  that  there  is  such  a  thing 
as  sin,  and  still  more  when  he  thinks  that  this  or  that  is  a  sin,  and  when 
he  examines  it  in  himself  and  refrains  from  willing  it  (n.  84[5J).  Stages 
in  reformation  described  (n.  151).  Principal  means  of  reformation  (n. 
233[s]).  All  reformation  is  effected  by  means  of  truth  (n.  298U]).  (See 
REGENERATION.) 

REGENERATE  (TO).—  Man  is  to  unite  good  and  truth  in  him,  or  love  and  wisdom 
as  they  are  united  in  the  Divine  that  goes  forth  from  the  Lord  (n.  58) 
With  one  who  is  regenerated  the  order  of  life  is  reversed;  from  being 
natural  he  becomes  spiritual  (n.  84[6]).  After  death  man  can  no  longer 
be  reformed  and  regenerated  (n.  17).  (See  TO  REFORM,  ACKNOWLEDG- 
MENT.) 

REGENERATION.—  The  conjunction  of  man  with  the  Lord  and  of  the  Lord  with 
man  is  what  is  called  reformation  and  regeneration  (n.  123[i]).  Regen- 
eration begins  when  man  refrains  from  evils  as  sins;  it  progresses  as  he 
shuns  them,  and  is  perfected  as  he  fights  against  them  ;  and  as  he  from 
the  Lord  conquers  them  he  is  regenerated  (n.  84[6]).  By  means  of 
rationality  and  liberty  man  is  reformed  and  regenerated,  and  without 
them  he  cannot  be  reformed  and  regenerated  (n.  85). 

RELATION.—  The  conjunction  of  good  and  truth  is  provided  by  the  Lord  by 
means  of  relation  (n.  24).  The  quality  of  a  good  is  known  only  by  its 
relation  to  what  is  less  good,  and  by  its  contrariety  to  evil  (n.  24). 

RELIGION.—  To  shun  evils  as  sins  is  the  Christian  religion  itself  (n.  265[i]). 
Hitherto  men  have  not  known  that  to  shun  evils  as  sins  is  the  Christian 
religion  itself  (n.  265[i],  278&).  The  Christian  religion  is  accepted  only  in 
the  smaller  division  of  the  habitable  globe  called  Europe,  and  is  there 
divided  (n.  256).  All  the  human  beings  that  are  born,  however  many 
and  in  whatever  religion,  can  be  saved,  provided  they  acknowledge  God 
and  live  according  to  the  commandments  in  the  decalogue  (n.  253, 
254[2],  322t4]).  The  Lord  provides  that  there  shall  be  some  religion 
everywhere,  and  that  there  shall  be  these  two  things  in  every  religion 
(n.  326[g]).  No  man  gets  his  religion  from  himself,  but  throuch  another 
who  has  either  learned  directly  from  the  Word  or  by  transmission  from 
others  (n.  254[i]).  The  Lord  has  provided  that  there  shall  be  in  every 
religion  precepts  like  those  in  the  decalogue  (n.  2540]).  There  are  two 
things  that  are  at  once  the  essentials  and  the  universals  of  religion, 
namely,  acknowledgment  of  God  and  repentance  (n.  340[2]).  When  a 
religion  has  been  once  implanted  in  a  nation  the  Lord  leads  that  nation 
according  to  the  precepts  and  dogmas  of  its  own  religion  (n.  254[2]). 
Every  nation  that  lives  according  to  its  religion,  that  is,  that  refrains 
from  doing  evil  because  it  is  contrary  to  its  god,  receives  something  of 
the  spiritual  in  its  natural  (n.  322Up.  In  process  of  time  every  religion 
declines  and  is  consummated  (n.  328[iJ).  The  understanding  is  blinded 
not  only  by  ignorance  but  also  by  a  religion  that  teaches  a  blind  faith  ; 
also  by  false  doctrine  (n.  144[i]).  In  every  one  that  has  any  religion 
there  is  implanted  a  knowledge  that  after  death  he  will  live  as  a  man  (n. 
274[i]).  To  acknowledge  God  and  to  refrain  from  doing  evil  because  it 
is  a-rainst  God,  are  the  two  things  that  make  a  religion  to  be  a  religion 
(n.  32%]). 

RELIGIOUS  SYSTEMS.—  Principles  of  various  religious  systems  (n.  253,  254,  139). 
Solomon's  wives,  seven  hundred  in  number,  represented  the  various 
religions  in  the  world.  A  concubine  represents  a  religion  (n.  245).  The 
Mohammedan  religion  is  accepted  by  more  kingdoms  than  the  Christ- 
ian religion  (n.  255).  (See  MOHAMMEDAN.) 

REMISSION  (THE)  of  sin  is  not  its  removal;  so  far  as  evils  are  removed  they  are 


INDEX  587 

remitted  (n.  279,  280).  Repentance  precedes  remission,  and  without 
repentance  there  is  no  remission  (n.  2sO).  Man  must  examine  himself, 
see  his  sins,  acknowledge  them,  confess  them  before  God,  and  refrain 
from  them;  this  is  repentance,  remission  of.  sins,  and  consequently  sal- 
vation (n.  127). 

REMIT.— To  every  one  the  Lord  remits  sins.  He  does  not  accuse  and  impute. 
And  yet  he  can  take  them  away  only  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of 
the  Divine  providence  (a.  280).  When  sins  have  been  remitted  they  are 
not  also  removed;  but  when  sins  have  been  removed  they  have  also 
been  remitted  (n.  280).  (See  REMISSION.) 

REPENTANCE  precedes  remission,  and  without  repentance  there  is  no  remission 
(n.  280).  Repentance  is  void  of  meaning  to  those  who  believe  that  men 
are  saved  out  of  mere  mercy,  however  they  live  (n.  340[>]).  Without  re- 
pentance man  is  in  evil,  and  evil  is  hell  (n.  340[3]).  When  a  man  wishes  to 
repent  he  must  look  to  the  Lord  alone;  if  he  looks  to  God  the  Father 
only  he  cannot  be  cleansed;  nor  if  he  looks  to  the  Father  for  the  sake  of 
the  Son,  nor  if  he  looks  to  the  Son  as  merely  a  man  (n.  122).  Repentance 
from  sins  is  the  way  to  heaven ;  faith  separate  from  repentance  is  not 
faith ;  and  those  who  are  not  in  faith  because  they  do  not.  repent  are  in 
the  way  to  hell  (n.  114[a],  127). 

REPRESENT.— The  men  of  Judah  and  Israel  were  led  into  the  land  of  Canaan 
merely  that  they  might  represent  the  church  (n.  132).  A  bad  man 
equally  with  a  good  man  may  represent  the  church  and  its  internals  by 
means  of  the  externals  of  worship  (n.  132). 

REPRODUCTION.—  The  final  thing  to  which  the  tree  aims  is  seed,  in  which  its  re- 
productive power  exists  anew  (n.  3[2]). 

RESIDENCE.— The  Lord  has  his  residence  in  man,  both  in  the  evil  and  in  the 
good,  in  the  two  faculties  called  rationality  and  liberty  (n.  96[5]). 

RESTORATION  (THE)  of  the  marriage  of  good  and  truth  in  every  created  thing 
and  the  consequent  conjunction  ol  the  created  universe  with  the  Lord 
through  man  must  be  the  end  of  Divine  providence  (n.  9). 

RESURRECTION.— In  every  one  that  has  any  religion  there  is  implanted  a  know- 
ledge that  after  death  he  will  live  as  a  man  (n.  274[i]). 

REVENGE  has  its  source  in  the  love  of  self  (n.  2760]). 

REWARD.— The  reward  of  a  prophet  (Matt.  x.  41,  42)  means  the  happiness  of 
those  who  are  in  Divine  truths;  and  the  reward  of  a  righteous  man 
means  the  happiness  of  those  who  are  in  Divine  goods  (n.  230(3]). 

RICHES.— What  the  love  of  riches  and  dignities  for  their  own  sake  is,  and  what 
the  love  of  dignities  and  riches  for  the  sake  of  uses  is  (n.  215[6J).  How 
the  love  of  riches  arose  (n.  215U]).  (See  POSSESSIONS,  WEALTH.) 

BULK  (LOVE  OF),  when  it  gradually  came  in  (n.  2151s]),  and  the  result  (n.  215[s]) 

RULE  (TO).— The  Lord  rules  the  whole  angelic  heaven  as  one  man;  the  Lord 
rules  heaven  as  the  soul  rules  its  body ;  the  whole  human  race  is  ruled 
by  the  Lord,  not  through  heaven  but  from  heaven  by  the  Lord,  conse- 
quently from  Himself,  because  He  is  heaven  (n.  163).  (See  GOVERN.) 

RUMINATING.— Man's  memory  may  be  compared  to  the  ruminating  stomach  of 
certain  animals.  Man's  memory  contains  truths  which  in  themselves 
are  knowledges,  and  so  far  as  by  thinking,  or  as  it  were  by  ruminating,  he 
draws  these  from  the  memory,  his  spiritual  mind  is  nourished  (n.  233[8]). 

SABBATH  (THE)  in  the  Israelitish  church  was  the  most  holy  thing  of  worship,  for 

it  signified  the  union  «f  truth  with  good  and  of  good  with  truth  in  man, 

for  thus  man  is  united  to  the  Lord  (n.  21). 
SACRIFICES.— Worship  by  sacrifices  was  first  instituted  in  the  Hebraic  Church 

which  arose  from  Heber  (n.  328[2]). 
SAGES. — That  man's  mind  cannot  die  the  sages  or  wise  men  of  old  saw;  for  they 

said,  "  How  can  the  mind  die  when  it  has  the  capacity  to  be  wise  ?"  (n. 

324[3]). 


588  THE  "DIVINE  PROVIDENCE 

SALVATION.— The  Lord  wills  the  salvation  of  all  (n.  221).  Without  the  Lord 
there  is  no  salvation.  No  one  is  saved  for  the  reason  that  the  Lord  is 
known  to  him,  but  because  he  lives  in  accordance  with  the  Lord's  com- 
mandments (n.  330[6]).  The  Divine  providence  has  for  its  end  nothing 
else  than  reformation  and  consequent  salvation  (n.  257[il).  Salvation 
can  be  accomplished  only  through  an  acknowledgment  of  the  Divinity 
of  the  Lord,  and  a  confidence  that  the  Lord  effects  salvation  when  man 
lives  according  to  His  commandments.  Instantaneous  salvation  from 
mercy  apart  from  means  is  impossible  (n.  338).  Instantaneous  salvation 
out  of  mercy  apart  from  means  is  the  "fiery  flying  serpent"  in  the 
church  (n.  340).  (See  SAVE  (TO).) 

SATAN.— The  falsity  of  evil  and  Satan  are  one  (n.  33[s]).  Those  who  confirm  in 
themselves  the  lusts  of  evil  are  called  satans  (n.  310[3l). 

SAVE.— It  is  of  the  Divine  providence  that  every  man  can  be  saved,  and  that 
those  are  saved  who  acknowledge  God  and  live  well  (n.  325).  No  mortal 
could  have  been  saved  unless  the  Lord  had  come  into  the  world  (n. 
124[4]>.  The  operation  of  the  Divine  providence  for  the  salvation  of 
man  begins  at  his  birth  and  continues  until  the  end  of  his  life,  and 
afterwards  to  eternity  (n.  332-336).  But  no  more  can  be  saved  than  are 
willing  to  be  saved  (n.  333[i]).  Only  those  are  willing  to  be  saved  who 
acknowledge  God  and  are  led  by  Him  (n.  333[i]).  Everyone,  in  what- 
ever heresies  he  may  be  in  respect  to  the  understanding,  can  be  reformed 
and  saved  if  only  he  shuns  evils  as  sins  and  does  not  confirm  heret- 
ical falsities  in  himself  (n.  259[s]).  That  only  those  born  within  the 
church  are  saved  is  an  insane  heresy  (n.  330[5)).  He  who  acknowledges 
God  and  lives  rightly  becomes  spiritual  in  his  degree  and  is  saved  (n. 
330[5]). 

SECURITY  of  life  arises  either  from  the  impious  man's  belief  that  there  is  no 
life  after  death,  or  from  the  belief  of  him  who  separates  life  from  salva- 
tion (n.  340U]). 

SEE.— What  the  Lord  teaches  He  gives  man  the  ability  to  perceive  rationally  in 
two  ways— seeing  in  himself  that  it  is  so,  and  understanding  it  by 
means  of  reasons.  His  seeing  it  in  himself  is  in  his  internal  man :  his 
understanding  it  by  means  of  reasons  is  in  the  external  man  (n.  150[2l). 

SEED  (THE)  is  the  primal  form  of  the  love  in  which  the  father  is;  it  is  the  form 
of  his  ruling  love  with  its  nearest  derivations,  which  are  the  inmost  af- 
fections of  that  love  (n.  277a[3]).  The  soul  is  in  the  seed,  for  from  the 
seed  is  impregnation,  and  the  seed  is  what  is  clothed  with  a  body  by  the 

SELF  (ONE'S  OWN).— This  own  is  the  love  of  self  and  the  love  of  the  world  there- 
from, or  is  the  love  of  the  world  and  the  love  of  self  therefrom  (n 
206[i]).  Man  has  a  voluntary  self  (proprium)  and  an  intellectual  self;, 
the  voluntary  self  is  evil,  and  the  intellectual  self  is  falsity  therefrom 
(n  298[sl)  the  love  of  self  viewed  in  itself  is  the  love  ol  ones  own 
(proprium):  and  man's  own  in  respect  to  its  affections,  which  are  all 
natural,  is  not  unlike  the  life  of  a  beast  (n.  233[i2]).  Not  a  gram  of  will 
or  of  prudence  that  is  his  own  is  possible  in  any  man  (n.  293).  No  man, 
accordine  to  the  common  understanding  of  his  own,  has  any  thing  Hi! 
own  (n.  309[i1).  The  things  proper  to  nature  are  especially  spaces  and 
times,  both  having  limit  and  termination;  the  things  therefore  proper 
to  man  are  those  that  belong  to  his  own  will  and  his  own  understanding 
(n.  219[i]).  All  things  proper  to  the  Lord  are  infinite  and  eternal,  thus 
without  time,  consequently  without  limit  and  without  end.  Things 
therefrom  seemingly  proper  to  man  are  likewise  infinite  and  eternal, 
yet  nothing  of  them  is  man's,  but  they  belong  to  the  Lord  alone  in  man 

SENSATION.— The  quality  of  a  good  is  known  only  by  its  relation  to  what  is  lees 
good  and  by  its  contrariety  to  evil.  From  this  comes  all  power  to  per- 
ceive and  to  feel  (n.  24). 


INDEX  589 

SENSES.  —  Of  the  senses  of  the  body  and  their  relation  to  the  mind  (n.  314).  It 
is  man's  mind  or  spirit  that  perceives  things  by  the  senses  (n.  314[iJ). 

SEXSUAL.—  The  ancients  called  men  who  had  confirmed  appearances  as  truths, 
and  had  thus  become  sensual,  serpents  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  (n. 
310[i]).  Such  a  man  is  shrewd,  crafty,  and  an  ingenious  reasoner  above 
others  (see  Gen.  iii.  1)  (n.  310[2,5]). 

SEPARATION  (see  SEVERANCE). 

SERPENT  (THE)  signifies  the  sensual  of  man  and  what  is  his  own  (proprium), 
which  in  itself  is  the  love  of  self  and  the  pride  of  self-intelligence,  thus 
the  devil  and  Satan  (n.  313[>],  211).  The  "serpent  "  is  evil  of  all  kinds 
(n.  211[i]).  The  "head  of  the  serpent"  (Gen.  iii.  15)  is  love  of  self  (n. 
211[il).  By  "the  fiery  flying  serpent"  (Isa.  xiv.  29)  evil  glowing  from 
infernal  fire  is  meant  (n.  340[i]).  The  ancients  called  those  who  believed 
only  the  things  perceived  through  the  senses  serpents  of  the  tree  ot 
knowledge  (n.  310[i]).  The  condemnation  of  the  serpent  (Gen.  iii.  14) 
signifies  the  condemnation  of  one's  own  love  and  one's  own  intelligence 
(n.  313[3]). 

SERVITUDE.—  Heavenly  freedom  is  freedom  itself,  and  consequently  its  opposite 
is  slavery,  both  to  the  good  and  to  the  evil  (n.  43).  Every  man  wishes  to 
be  free,  and  to  put  away  from  himself  non-freedom  or  servitude  (n.  148). 
Man  does  not  know  what  spiritual  servitude  is  and  what  spiritual  liberty 
is;  he  does  not  possess  the  truths  that  teach  this;  and  without  truths 
spiritual  servitude  is  believed  to  be  freedom,  and  spiritual  freedom  to 
be  servitude  (n.  149).  To  be  led  by  good  is  freedom,  and  to  be  led  by  evil 
is  slavery  (n.  43).  Why  man  does  not  wish  to  come  out  of  spiritual  serv- 
itude into  spiritual  liberty  (n.  149). 

(see  PARTICULARS). 


SEVERANCE.—  So  far  as  one  denies  the  Lord  he  is  severed  from  Him.  Severance 
causes  hell  to  turn  the  man's  face  to  itself,  and  he  is  then  led  to  hell  (n. 
(n.  326[4,5p. 

SHEATH.—  The  pleura,  which  is  the  general  sheath  of  the  chest  (n.  180[s]).  The 
peritoneum,  the  general  sheath  of  the  abdominal  viscera  (n.  180U]). 
Sheaths  surrounding  the  several  organs,  as  the  stomach,  liver,  pancreas, 
spleen,  intestines,  mesentery,  kidneys  (n.  180[4]). 

SHEEP.  —  "To  call  the  sheep  by  name  "  (John  x.  2,  3)  means  to  teach  and  to  lead 
every  one  who  is  in  the  good  'of  charity  according  to  the  state  of  his  love 
and  wisdom  (n.  230[4]). 

SHEPHERD  (THE).—  To  be  saved  the.  Lord  Himself  must  be  approached,  and  who 
ever  goes  to  Him  is  a  shepherd  of  the  sheep  (n.  230U]). 

SHUN.—  So  far  as  one  shuns  evils  as  diabolical  and  as  obstacles  to  the  Lord's 
entrance  he  is  more  and  more  nearly  conjoined  with  the  Lord,  and  he 
the  most  nearly  who  abominates  them  as  so  many  dusky  and  fiery 
devils  (n.  33[3]). 

SICKNESS.—  When  a  man  is  sick,  and  is  thinking  about  death  and  the  state  of 
his  soul  after  death,  he  is  not  in  the  world,  but  in  spirit  he  is  withdrawn; 
and  in  this  state  no  one  can  be  reformed  (n.  142[i]).  No  one  is  relormed  in 
unhealthy  mental  states,  because  they  take  away  rationality.  For  the 
mind  may  be  sick  and  unsound;  and  while  a  sound  mind  is  rational  a 
sick  mind  is  not(n.  141).  When  the  body  is  sick  the  mind  is  also  sick  (n. 
142[i]).  Some  unhealthy  mental  states  named  (n.  141).  It  is  vain  to 
think  that  any  can  repent  or  receive  any  faith  during  sickness,  for  in 
such  repentance  there  is  nothing  of  action,  and  in  such  faith  nothing  of 
charity  (n.  142[>]).  If  men  had  not  been  reformed  before  their  sickness, 
if  they  die  they  afterwards  become  such  as  they  were  before  the  sick- 
ness (n.  142[2]). 

SIDON,  one  ot  the  kingdoms  in  which  the  Ancient  Church  existed  and  where 
the  Ancient  Word  was  known  (n.  328[2]). 

SIGHT.—  Man  has  an  internal  and  an  external  sight  (n.  166).    Internal  sight  is 


>90  THE  ^Dl^INE  TROl/IDENCE 

that  of  the  understanding  by  spiritual  objects,  and  the  external  sight  is 
that  of  the  eye  by  natural  objects  (n.  166[i]).  The  eyesight  of  the  angels 
of  heaven  is  formed  for  the  reception  of  their  light,  and  the  eyesight  ot 
the  spirits  of  hell  for  the  reception  of  their  light  (n.  167). 

SIGNS  —No  one  is  reformed  by  miracles  and  signs,  because  they  compel  (n.  130). 

SIMPLE.— The  simpler  and  purer  any  thing  is,  the  more  and  the  fuller  it  is  (n.  6). 
The  belief  of  many  that  there  is  an  only  first  substance,  the  source  of 
all  things,  so  simple  that  nothing  is  simpler,  is  a  fallacy  (n.  6). 

SIMULTANEOUS.— In  the  outmost  there  is  a  simultaneous  presence  of  all  things 
from  the  first  (n.  124(4]).  The  Lord  acts  upon  every  particular  in  man 
singly,  but  simultaneously  through  all  things  of  his  form  (n.  124[3]). 
The  Lord  acts  from  inmosts  and  from  outmosts  simultaneously  (n. 
124[4]).  How  the  simultaneous  produces  the  successive  (n.  12). 

IINGLY  \  (see  PART1CULARS  and  UNIVERSALS). 

SINS. — When  sins  have  been  removed  they  have  also  been  remitted;  but  not  the 
reverse  (n.  280).  Of  those  who  confess  themselves  guilty  of  all  sins  and 
do  not  search  out  any  sin  in  themselves  (n.  2786).  A  confession  of  all 
sin  is  unconsciousness  of  all  (n.  2786[i]). 

SKELETONS.— Of  profaners  who  in  the  light  of  heaven  look  like  skeletons; 
some  like  skeletons  of  the  color  of  bone,  some  as  fiery  skeletons,  and 
others  as  charred  (n.  226). 

SKIN  (THE)  does  not  feel  from  itself,  but  it  is  man's  mind  or  spirit  that  there 
perceives  things  by  the  sense,  and  is  affected  by  it  in  accordance  with 
its  nature  (n.  314[i]).  Man  knows  so  little  as  to  amount  to  scarcely  any- 
thing of  how  the  skin  feels  (n.  336).  It  has  been  provided  by  the  Lord 
that  those  who  could  not  be  reached  by  the  Gospel,  but  only  by  a  relig- 
ion, should  also  have  a  place  in  the  Divine  Man,  that  is,  heaven,  consti- 
tuting those  parts  that  are  called  skins,  membranes,  cartilages,  and 
bones  (n.  254[s],  326[io]). 

SLAVERY  (see  SERVITUDE). 

SMELL.— All  that  a  man  sees,  hears,  smell,  tastes,  and  feels,  flows  in  (n.  308[>J). 
Evil  in  itself  is  a  stench,  while  good  in  itself  is  fragrant  (n.  305). 

SMOKE,  like  that  of  a  conflagration,  through  which  no  spiritual  truth  in  its  own 
light  could  pass,  surrounds  the  hells  of  those  who  are  loves  of  self  and 
the  world  (n.  250U]). 

SOCIETY.— The  entire  heaven  is  arranged  in  societies  according  to  the  affections 
of  good,  and  the  entire  hell  according  to  the  lusts  of  evil  opposite  to  the 
affections  of  good  (n.  278616]).  As  to  his  spirit  every  man  is  in  some 
society ;  in  a  heavenly  society  if  he  is  in  an  affection  for  good,  but  in  an 
infernal  society  if  he  is  in  a  lust  of  evil  (n.  2786[6],  296[6],  307).  Some- 
times when  in  deep  meditation  he  appears  there  (n.  296[6]).  But  a  man 
is  not  there  in  the  same  way  as  a  spirit  who  has  been  assigned  to  the 
society,  for  a  man  is  constantly  in  a  state  to  be  reformed,  and  he  is 
transferred  by  the  Lord  from  one  society  to  another,  in  accordance  with 
his  life  and  its  changes  (n.  307b]).  Each  society  in  heaven  is  as  one 
man  before  the  Lord  (n.  64). 

SOCINIANISM  AND  ARIANISM,  which  reign  in  more  hearts  than  you  believe,  arose 
from  the  thought  of  God  as  three  persons  (n.  262[2],  256[s]). 

SOCINIANS,  their  final  condition  in  the  other  life  (n.  2311.6] ;  also  257U]). 

SOLOMON  represented  the  Lord  after  his  coming;  and  because  the  Lord  after 
the  glorification  of  His  Human  had  power  over  heaven  and  earth,  so 
Solomon  appeared  in  glory  and  magnificence,  and  possessed  wisdom 
above  all  the  kings  of  the  earth  (n.  245).  Why  he  was  permitted  to 
establish  idolatrous  worship  and  to  marry  so  many  wives  (n.  245;  see 
also  n.  236). 

SOMETHING.— Every  thing  that  perishes  and  comes  to  nothing  is  inwardly  in  it- 
self nothing;  outwardly  it  is  something,  but  it  is  not  so  inwardly  (n. 
217[6]).  There  is  an  appearance  that  good  is  something  apart  from 


INDEX  591 

truth,  and  that  truth  is  something  apart  from  good;  and  yet  they  are 
not  (n.  ll[i]).  Good  is  nothing  apart  from  truth  and  truth  is  not  any  thing 
apart  from  good  (n.  ll[i]).  That  which  is  both  in  good  and  in  truth  is 
something;  but  that  which  is  both  in  evil  and  falsity  is  not  anything  (n. 
19[i]).  Unless  the  Infinite  God  were  the  All  and  were  Substance  itself 
and  Wisdom  itself,  man  would  not  be  anything  (n.  46[2]). 

SOUL.— Every  one's  soul  is  from  the  father,  and  from  the  mother  it  is  merely 
clothed  with  a  body  (n.  277a[^]l  The  soul  is  in  the  seed,  for  from  the 
seed  is  impregnation,  and  the  seed  is  what  is  clothed  with  a  body  by  the 
mother  (n.  277a[^]).  Man's  soul  is  nothing  else  than  the  iove  of  his  will 
and  the  love  therefrom  of  his  understanding  (n.  199[s]).  If  man  attrib- 
utes all  things  to  himself  and  to  nature  the  love  of  self  becomes  the 
soul;  but  if  he  attributes  all  things  to  the  Lord  love  to  the  Lord  becomes 
the  soul  (n.  199[s]).  Naturalists  have  been  able  to  comprehend  the  state 
of  the  soul  after  death  only  in  a  sensual  way,  and  not  spiritually  (n. 
310[s]).  Of  the  secret  operations  of  the  soul  in  the  body  (n.  296[i4],~336). 

SOUND. — Tune  corresponds  to  affection,  and  speech  to  thought  (n.  279[8]).  The 
affection  of  one's  love  can  be  recognized  from  one's  tone  when  speak- 
ing; and  from  the  variation  of  it,  which  is  speech,  his  thought  can  be 
recognized  (n.  194).  The  tone  of  the  voice  in  speaking  and  singing,  and 
its  articulations  which  are  words  of  speech,  and  the  modulations  of 
singing,  are  made  by  the  lungs  (n.  279[8]).  Hypocrites  are  sometimes 
permitted  in  the  spiritual  world  to  speak  otherwise  than  as  they  think, 
and  by  the  discord  their  hypocrisy  is  disclosed  (n.  224[s]). 

SPACE  AXD  TfidE  are  properties  of  nature  (n.  51).  Time  is  only  an  appearance 
in  accord  with  the  state  of  affections  from  which  thought  springs.  The 
same  is  true  of  thought  about  distance  in  space  (n.  49).  In  the  spiritual 
world  there  is  no  space,  but  there  distance  and  presence  are  appearances 
in  accordance  with  similarities  and  dissimilarities  of  affection  (n.  33U]). 
Angels  and  spirits  are  not  in  space  and  time,  but  only  in  the  appearance 
of  them  (n.  50[i]). 

SPEAK.— The  simple  and  the  wise  speak  alike  but  do  not  think  alike  (n.  162[3J). 
In  the  spiritual  world  no  one  can  speak  otherwise  than  he  thinks  (n. 
224[3]).  All  speech  flows  from  thought  as  an  effect  from  its  cause  (n. 
30S[2]).  Everything  that  a  man  says  and  does  flows  in,  although  deriv- 
nediately  (n.  308b]).  Unless  man  had  an  external  and  an 


atively  or  me 

internal  of  thought  from  liberty  and  rationality  he  would  not  be  able  to 

speak,  but  only  to  utter  sounds  like  a  beast  (h.  104[2l). 

SPEAKING,  i  —How  the  articulations  of  speech  and  the  modulations  of  singing 
SIXGIXG.     )    are  produced  (n.  279[8]).    (See  SOUND.) 
SPEECH  corresponds  to  thought,  and  tone  to  the  affections  (n.  279[8]).  411  speech 

flows  from  thought  as  an  effect  from  its  cause  (n.  308[2]).    How  speech  is 

produced  (n.  279[8]).     (See  SOUND.) 
SPHERES.— In  the  spiritual  world  all  are  joined  together  in  accord  with  the 

spheres  that  exhale  from  their  affections  through  their  thoughts  (n. 

196).    What  each  one  is  is  recognized  from  the  sphere  of  his  life  (n.  196). 
SPIDER  (THE).— Infernal  love  with  its  affections  for  evil  and  falsity  likened  to  a 

spider  with  its  surrounding  web  (n.  107). 
SPIRALS.— Changes  and  variations  in  the  organic  forms  oT  the  mind  cannot  be.; 

expressed  in  words  of  natural  language  except  as  vortex-like  circlings  '• 

inward  and  outward,  after  the  manner  of  perpetual  and  curving  spirals. 

wonderfully  combined  into  forms  receptive  of  life  (n.  319L2])"    In  the 
.      good  these  spiral  forms  are  turned  forward  towards  the  Lord,  but  with 

the  evil  they  are  turned  backward  toward  hell  (n.  319[3i). 
SPIRIT  (THE).— Every  man's  spirit  is  affection  and  the  thought  therefrom  (n.  61, 

196) 
SPIRIT  (THE  HOLY).—  What  is  meant  by  the  sin  against  the  Holy  Spirit  which  is 

not  forgiven  (n  98[s],  231[6]). 
SPIRITS  are  joined  together  in  accord  with  the  spheres  that  exhale  from  their 


592  THE  T^iyiNE  TROWDENC.E 

.affections  through  their  thoughts  (n.  196).  All  in  the  spiritual  world 
think  from  the  affections  of  their  life's  love  (n.  196).  Conversation  with 
the  dead  would  have  the  same  effect  as  miracles — one  would  be  per- 
suaded and  forced,  and  thus  be  deprived  of  rationality,  and  at  the  same 
time  evils  are  shut  in,  to  break  out  with  blasphemy  and  profanation. 
But  this  takes  place  only  when  some  dogma  of  religion  has  been  im- 
posed upon  the  mind  by  spirits,  which  is  never  done  by  any  good  spirit, 
still  less  by  any  angel  of  heaven  (n.  134b).  Swedenborg's  personal  ex- 
periences with  spirits  (n.  135). 

SPIRITUAL  MAN  (THE). — The  natural  man,  however  civilly  and  morally  he  may 
act,  is  called  dead ;  but  the  spiritual  man  is  called  living  (n.  322(3]).  Man 
becomes  spiritual  by  the  acknowledgment  of  God  (n.  189[i]),  and  not  do- 
ing evil  because  it  is  against  God  (n.  322[sl).  The  spiritual  state  (n.  189). 

SPIRITUAL  SENSE  OF  THE  WORD.— Why  that  sense  has  not  been  revealed  before. 
Now  revealed  for  a  new  church  that  will  acknowledge  and  worship  the 
Lord  alone  and  will  hold  his  Word  hol#  (n.  264). 

SPLEEN  (n.  156,  279[7]).     The  spleen  purifies  the  blood  (n.  336). 

SPONGE.— When  truth  has  been  taken  away  from  a  man,  after  death,  he  im- 
bibes such  falsity  as  agrees  with  his  evil  as  a  sponge  imbibes  water 
(n.  17). 

SQUARING  OF  THE  CIRCLE.— Comparison  between  angelic  wisdom  and  Divine 
wisdom  drawn  from  what  is  said  about  squaring  the  circle  (n.  335[2]). 

STATES.— Every  man  when  he  becomes  a  spirit  is  introduced  by  turns  into  the 
two  states  of  his  life,  the  external  and  the  internal  (n.  298[i]).  The  spirit- 
ual state  of  man  (that  after  death)  is  wholly  different  from  the  natural 
state  (n.  338U]).  A  spirit  is  usually  let  into  alternate  states  of  wisdom 
and  insanity  that  he  may  see  the  latter  from  the  former  (n.  223).  From  a 
man's  state  in  the  natural  world  no  conclusions  can  be  formed  about 
what  his  state  will  be  after  death  (n.  308[s]).  To  understand  how  man  is 
regenerated  three  things  must  be  considered ;  his  first  state,  which  is  a 
state  of  damnation;  his  second,  which  is  a  state  of  reformation ;  and 
his  third,  that  of  regeneration  (n.  83).  No  one  is  reformed  in  states  that 
do  not  spring  from  rationality  and  liberty  (n.  138).  These  states  are 
many;  some  enumerated  (n.  138-144). 

STATUE  (THE)  seen  by  Nebuchadnezzar  in  a  dream  (Dan.  ii.  32,  33),  means  the 
four  churches— the  Most  Ancient,  the  Ancient,  the  Hebraic,  and  that  of 
Israel  and  Judah  (n.  328[2]).  He  who,  because  he  knows  that  wisdom 
and  prudence  are  from  God,  still  waits  for  influx,  becomes  like  a  statue 
(n.321[i]). 

STATUTES  (THE)  of  the  church  with  the  nation  of  Israel  and  Judah  represented 
the  spiritual  things  of  the  church,  which  are  its  internals  (n.  245). 

STOMACH,  its  function  and  operation  (n.  279[7],  296fi4l,  336).  Man's  memory 
may  be  compared  to  the  ruminating  stomach  of  certain  animals  (n. 
233[81).  No  one  knows  how  the  soul  operates  to  cause  the  stomach  to 
digest  (n.  74,  180[6]). 

STUMBLING-BLOCKS.—  Hindrances  or  Stumbling-blocks  of  the  Impenitent  (n. 

SUBDUE.— He  who  subdues  the  love  of  rule  from  the  love  of  self  easily  subdues 
all  other  evil  loves,  for  this  is  their  head  (n.  146). 

SUBJECTS.— Affections  and  thoughts  are  possible  only  in  substances  and  their 
forms,  which  are  subjects  (n.  279[6],  319[2]).  It  is  the  form  that  makes 
the  subject,  of  which  quality,  state,  power  to  effect,  and  any  thing  that 
accords  with  the  perfection  of  the  form,  can  be  predicated  (n.  4[2]).  • 

SUBSISTENCE  (see  PERMANENCE). 

SUBSTANCE.— There  is  an  only  substance  which  is  the  first  substance  and  the 
source  of  all  things  (n.  6[il,  157fi]).  The  sun  of  the  spiritual  world, 
which  is  from  the  Lord,  and  in  which  the  Lord  is,  is  not  only  the  first 
substance  but  is  also  the  only  substance  from  which  all  thing  are  (n.  5). 
Affections  which  belong  to  the  will  are  nothing  but  changes  and  varl- 


INDEX  593 

ations  of  state  of  the  purely  organic  substances  of  the  mind,  and 
thoughts  which  belong  to  the  understanding  are  nothing  but  changes 
and  variations  in  the  form  of  these  substances  (n.  279[i],  319[i]). 

SUBSTANTIATE.—  The  spiritual  sun  is  the  first  and  only  substances  from  which 
all  things  are;  infinitely  more  things  are  in  that  substance  than  can 
appear  in  the  substances  that  spring  from  it,  which  are  called  substan- 
tiate (or  composited),  and  at  length  material  (n.  6[2]). 

SUCCESS i VK.— How  the  simultaneous  produces  what  is  successive  (n.  12).  (See 
SIMULTANEOUS.) 

SUN.— The  Lord  produced  from  Himself  the  sun  of  the  spiritual  world,  and 
through  that  sun  all  things  of  the  universe  (n.  6[i]).  That  sun,  which  is 
from  the  Lord,  is  not  only  the  first  substance  but  is  also  the  only  sub- 
stance, from  which  all  things  are  (n.  5[i|).  The  spiritual  sun,  which  is 
from  the  Lord,  and  in  which  the  Lord  is,  is  itself  the  only  substance, 
and  this  substance  is  not  in  space.  It  is  the  all  in  all,  and  it  is  the 
greatest  and  the  least  of  the  created  universe  (n.  6[i]).  The  Lord  ap- 
pears above  the  angelic  heaven  as  a  sun  (n.  162[i]).  By  the  "  sun  "  in 
the  Word  is  meant  the  Divine  love  (n.  173,  292).  In  respect  to  their  sight 
the  Lord  is  above  the  angels  in  their  sun,  but  in  respect  to  the  life  of 
their  love  and  wisdom  He  is  in  them  (n.  31).  From  the  sun  of  the  world 
heat  and  light  flow  in  alike  into  trees  that  bear  evil  fruit  and  good  fruit 
(n.  160). 

SUPPER  (THE  HOLY)  confirms  the  remission  of  sins  in  those  who  repent,  because 
in  that  Supper  or  communion  every  one  is  kept  looking  to  the  Lord 
alone  (n.  122). 

SUPPLY.— Every  power  must  have  a  supply  that  must  be  imparted  to  it,  and 
thus  a  determination  from  what  is  more  internal  or  higher  than  itself 
(n.  88). 

SWEDEN  BORG  talked  with  many  after  their  death  in  Europe  and  its  various  king- 
doms, in  Asia  and  Africa  and  their  various  kingdoms,  and  they  were 
all  near  him  (n.  50(3]).  He  talked  with  those  who  lived  many  ages  ago; 
with  those  who  lived  before  the  flood  and  with  some  who  lived  after  it, 
with  those  who  lived  in  the  time  of  the  Lord  and  with  one  of  His 
Apostles,  and  with  many  who  lived  in  later  ages.  They  all  appeared 
like  men  of  middle  age,  and  they  said  that  they  knew  nothing  about 
death  except  that  it  is  damnation,  (n.  324[4]).  For  several  years  he 
talked  with  spirits  and  with  angels,  nor  did  any  spirit  dare,  or  any  angel 
wish,  to  tell  him  anything,  still  less  to  instruct  him  about  any  matter  in 
the  Word,  or  about  any  matter  of  doctrine  from  the  Word.  He  was 
taught  by  the  Lord  alone,  who  was  revealed  to  him,  and  appeared  con- 
stantly before  his  eyes  as  a  Sun  in  which  He  is,  in  the  same  way  that  He 
appears  to  the  angels,  and  enlightened  him  (n.  135).  When  it  was  grant- 
ed him  by  the  Lord  to  speak  with  spirits  and  angels  it  was  at  once 
revealed  to  him  that  neither  thought  nor  will  was  from  himself,  but 
that  if  good  it  was  from  the  Lord,  arid  if  evil  it  was  from  hell  This  was 
demonstrated  to  him  by  much  experience.  Novitiate  spirits  wondered 
at  this  state  of  mind,  but  he  laid  open  the  mystery  to  them,  showing 
that  while  he  thought  interiorly  and  perceived  what  flowed  into  his  ex- 
terior thoughts,  and  whether  it  was  from  heaven  or  from  hell,  and 
rejected  what  was  from  hell  and  received  what  was  from  heaven,  he  still 
seemed  to  himself  to  think  and  to  will  from  himself  (n.  290).  Evil 
spirits  who  infused  evil  thought  into  his  mind  detected  and  driven  away 
(n.  312[4]). 

SWEDES,  thinsrs  plainly  taught  in  their  exhortation  to  the  holy  communion  (n. 
11<1],  258[5]). 

SWORD.—"  To  be  devoured  by  the  sword  "  signifies  to  perish  by  the  falsity  of 
evil  (n.  2786[5]). 

SYRIA,  one  of  the  countries  where  the  Ancient  Church  existed,  and  where  the 
Ancient  Word  was  known  (n.  328[2]). 


594  THE   'DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

SYRIANS  (THE).— Each  nation  with  which  the  children  of  Israel  waged  war  sig- 
nified some  particular  kind  of  evil  (n.  251  [3]). 

SYSTOLE.— Of  the  dilations  and  contractions  of  the  heart  called  systole  and 
diastole  (n.  319[i]). 

TABLES  OF  THE  LAW.— There  are  two  tables  of  the  law,  one  for  the  Lord  and 
the  other  for  man  (n.  95,  326[;j).  So  far  as  man  keeps  the  law  of  his 
table  as  if  from  himself,  so  far  the  Lord  enables  him  to  keep  the  laws 
of  His  table  (n.  95).  The  laws  of  man's  table  all  refer  to  love  to  the 
neighbor,  and  the  laws  of  the  Lord's  table  all  refer  to  love  to  the  Lord 
(n.  95).  (See  DECALOGUE.) 

TALENT  (THE).— Prudence  is  the  "talent"  given  to  the  servants  to  trade  with, 
of  which  they  must  render  an  account  (Luke  xix. ;  Matt,  xxv.)  m.  210[2]) 

TASTE  cannot  exist,  apart  from  its  form,  which  is  the  tongue  (n.  279[6j). 

TASTE  (TO).— Every  thing  that  a  man  sees,  hears,  smells,  tastes,  and  feels  flows 
in  (n.  308[2]). 

TEACH.— The  Lord  alone  teaches  man,  but  mediately  by  means  of  the  Word 
when  in  a  state  of  enlightenment  (n.  135).  The  man  who  is  taught 
from  the  Word  is  taught  by  the  Lord  alone  (n.  172[i])  How  man  is 
taught  by  the  Lord  (n.  154-174).  Every  one  is  taught  according  to  the 
understanding  that  belongs  to  his  own  love;  what  is  beyond  this  is  not 
permanent  (n.  17215]).  All  who  are  taught  by  the  Lord  in  the  Word  are 
taught  a  few  truths  in  the  world,  but  many  when  they  become  angels 
(n.  172!  5]). 

TEETH  (THE).— It  has  been  provided  by  the  Lord  that  those  who  could  not  be 
reached  by  the  Gospel,  but  only  by  a  religion,  should  have  a  place  in 
the  Divine  Man,  that  is,  in  heaven,  constituting  those  parts  that  are 
called  skins,  bones,  etc.  (n.  2541s],  326[io]). 

TEMPLE  (THE),  built  by  Solomon  signified  both  the  Lord's  Divine  Human  (John 
li.  19,  21),  and  the  church  (n.  245).  The  destruction  of  the  temple  repre 
sented  the  essential  devastation  of  the  church  (n.  246). 

TEMPORAL  things  that  are  proper  to  men  in  the  natural  world  have  relation  in 
general  to  dignities  and  possessions,  and  in  particular  to  every  one's 
necessities,  which  are  food,  clothing,  and  habitation  (n.  220[s],  215[i]). 
Man  pute  off  natural  and  te.mporal  things  by  death,  and  puts  on  spirit- 
ual and  eternal  things  that  correspond  to  them  (n.  220U]).  Nothing  but 
what  is  temporal  can  proceed  from  man,  and  nothing  but  what  is  eter- 
nal from  the  Lord  (n.  21912]).  Temporal  things  and  eternal  things  are 
separated  by  man,  but  are  conjoined  by  the  Lord  (n.  218).  The  temporal, 
relatively,  is  nothing,  and  becomes  nothing  when  it  is  ended  (n.  59). 

TEMPTATIONS  (SPIRITUAL),  are  nothing  else  than  combats  against  the  evils  and 
falsities  that  are  exhaled  from  hell  and  affect  man  (n.  25).  Genuine 
temptations  have  as  their  object  things  spiritual  (n.  141).  Temptations 
are  infestations  by  the  evil  who  are  with  men  (n.  19[a]). 

TENDONS  (THE).— The  heavenly  Man,  which  is  heaven,  if  all  the  organized 
forms  of  the  human  body  are  to  be  in  it,  must  be  composed  not  of  men 
of  a  single  religion  but  of  men  of  many  religions  (n.  326[io],  254). 

THEFT,  the  love  of  self  its  source  (n.  276(2]). 

THIEF  AND  ROBBER  (THE).— Whoever  does  not  go  to  the  Lord  to  be  saved  is  "  a 
thief  and  a  robber"  (John  x.  1)  (n.  23014]). 

THINK. — It  was  shown  to  spirits  that  no  one  thinks,  nor  can  think,  from  him- 
self, but  that  it  is  from  influx  (n.  288).  No  one  thinks  from  himself,  but 
only  from  others;  neither  do  these  think  from  themselves,  but  all  think 
from  influx  out  of  heaven,  and  heaven  by  influx  from  the  Lord  (n. 
289[2],  294,  308).  All  think  from  the  Lord,  and  this  is  true  both  of  the 
evil  man  and  of  the  good  (n.  308).  Whoever  does  not  think  above  the 
sensual  is  in  the  darkness  of  night  regarding  the  state  of  his  life  (n. 
274[io]).  What  it  is  while  one  is  thinking  from  the  present  to  think  at 


INDEX  595 

the  same  time  from  the  eternal  (n.  59).  It  is  from  a  law  of  the  Divine 
providence  that  man  should  think  as  if  from  himself  and  should  act 
prudently  as  if  from  himself,  but  should  nevertheless  acknowledge  that 
he  does  it  from  the  Lord  (n.  32l[i]).  No  one  thinks  from  time  and  space 
when  thinking  of  those  who  are  in  the  spiritual  world  (n.  50[4]).  (See 
THOUGHT.) 

THINK  AND  WILL  (TO).— The  essential  Divine  is  to  think  and  to  will  from  itself, 
while  the  essential  human  is  to  think  and  will  from  God  (n.  293).  Think- 
ing and  willing  are  spiritual,  speaking  and  doing  are  natural  (n.  71). 

THORNS  AND  THISTLES  (THE)  that  the  earth  was  to  bring  forth  (Gen.  iii.  18) 
signify  pure  falsity  and  evil  (n.  313[3]). 

THOUGHT.— No  thought  is  possible  to  man  except  from  some  affection  of  his  life's 
love;  thought  is  nothing  but  the  form  of  affection  (n.  198).  All  of  man's 
thoughts  are  from  the  affection  of  his  life's  love;  and  apart  from  these 
there  are  and  can  be  no  thoughts  whatever  (n.  193[i]).  Thoughts,  which 
belong  to  the  understanding,  are  nothing  but  changes  and  variations  in 
the  form  of  the  purely  organic  substances  of  the  mind  (n.  279[6]).  Every 
man  has  an  external  and  an  internal  of  thought  (n.  103,  106-110,  120, 
139,  145,  150).  The  affections  associated  with  perceptions  constitute 
man's  internal,  and  the  enjoyments  of  affections  associated  with 
thoughts  constitute  his  external  (n.  106[i]).  By  the  external  and  inter- 
nal of  thought  the  same  is  meant  as  by  the  external  and  internal  man 
(n.  103).  The  external  of  man's  thought  is  in  itself  of  the  same  char- 
acter as  its  internal  (n.  106).  The  internal  of  thought  and  the  external 
ot  thought  are  distinct  like  what  is  prior  and  what  is  posterior,  or  what 
is  higher  and  what  is  lower  (n.  145fi]).  The  interiors  of  man  mean  the 
internal  of  his  thought,  of  which  he  knows  nothing  until  he  comes 
into  the  spiritual  world  and  its  light,  which  he  does  after  death  (n. 
233[i]).  The  internal  of  thought  in  man  is  bound  to  the  external  of 
thought  by  such  a  bond  that  they  cannot  be  separated  (n.  233[i]).  That 
both  exterior  and  interior  thought  are  possible  to  man  is  clearly  evident 
from  his  being  able  from  his  interior  thought  to  look  upon  his  exterior 
thought  and  to  judge  of  it  whether  it  is  evil  or  not  evil  (n.  104[2]). 
Thought  from  this  exterior  enlightenment  sees  a  thing  on  both  sides;  on 
the  one  it  sees  the  reasons  that  confirm,  on  the  other  the  appearances 
that  invalidate;  the  latter  it  disperses,  the  former  it  collects  (n.  1681s]). 
From  thought  abstracted  from  time  and  space  a  comprehension  of  the 
Divine  omnipresence  and  the  Divine  omnipotence,  also  of  the  Divine 
from  eternity,  is  possible  (n.  51).  If  you  should  withdraw  thought  from 
speech  speech  would  stop  (n.  30]).  (See  AFFECTIONS  AND  THOUGHT, 
THINK,  AFFECTION,  ILLUMINATION.) 

THREATS.— No  one  is  reformed  by  threats  and  punishments,  because  they 
compel  (n.  136).  (See  TO  COMPEL.) 

TIME  is  only  an  appearance  in  accordance  with  the  state  of  affection  from 
which  the  thought  springs  (n.  49).  (See  SPACE  AND  TIME.) 

TONE  corresponds  to  affection,  and  speech  to  the  thought  (n.  279[8]). 

TONGUE  (THE)  (n.  180[6],  279[8],  336).  The  tongue  is  the  form  of  taste  (n.  279[6]). 
The  tongue  does  not  taste  from  itself;  it  is  man's  mind  or  spirit  that 
there  perceives  things  by  the  sense,  and  is  affected  by  the  sense  in  ac- 
cordance with  its  nature  (n.  314[i]).  Man  knows  so  little  as  to  amount 
to  scarcely  anything  as  to  how  the  tongue  tastes  (n.  336,  174).  When  it  is 

•  granted  spirits  speak  with  man  in  his  mother  tongue,  but  only  a  few 

words  (n.  135). 

TORMENT  (THE)  of  one  in  the  delight  of  hell  who  is  permitted  to  approach 
heaven  (n.  324[y],  338^6]). 

TRACHEA  or  WINDPIPE,  its  functions  (n..  180[s],  279[8,Q]). 

TRANSFERRED.— Man  is  constantly  in  a  state  to  be  reformed,  and  if  he  is  evil 
he  is  transferred  by  the  Lord  from  one  society  of  hell  to  another,  or  if 


590  THE  nilYINE  TROWDENCE 


he  suffers  himself  to  be  reformed  he  is  transferred  from  one  society  of 
heaven  to  another,  and  this  even  until  death  (n.  307[2]). 

TREE.—  There  is  a  correspondence  between  man's  life  and  the  growth  of  a  tree 
(n.  332[3]).  Man  is  depicted  in  the  Word  by  a  tree  (n.  332(s]).  Where  the 
tree  falls  there  it  lies.  So,  too,  does  a  man's  life  when  he  dies  remain 
such  as  it  has  been  (n.  277&).  Heavenly  love  with  its  affections  for  good 
and  truth  and  perfections  therefrom,  together  with  the  enjoyments  from 
these  affections  and  thoughts  therefrom  may  be  likened  to  a  tree  with 
an  abundance  of  branches,  leaves,  and  fruits  (n.  107).  The  "  tree  of 
life  "means  the  Lord  in  respect  to  His  Divine  providence;  and  the 
"tree  of  knowledge"  means  man  in  respect  to  his  own  prudence  (n. 
241[3],  313[2]). 

TRIBES.  —  In  the  earliest  times  tribes,  families,  and  households  dwelt  apart,  and 
not  under  general  governments  as  at  this  day  (n.  215[2]). 

TRINE  (THE).—  It  is  in  the  Lord  alone  that  this  Trine  in  One  is  possible  (n. 
123[2]). 

TRINITY.—  God  is  one  in  person  and  in  essence,  in  whom  is  the  trinity,  and  that 
the  Lord  is  this  God  (n.  262[7],  263[i]). 

TRUTH.—  By  truth  is  meant  that  which  universally  embraces  and  involves  all 
things  of  wisdom  (n.  ll[i]).  Every  thing  of  the  understanding  has  re- 
lation to  truth  (n.  llfal).  The  genuine  truths  in  which  the  spiritual 
sense  of  the  Word  resides  were  not  revealed  by  the  Lord  until  the  last 
judgment  had  been  accomplished,  and  the  new  church  that  is  meant  by 
"the  Holy  Jerusalem"  was  about  to  be  established  by  the  Lord  (n. 
264[4]).  How  a  truth  from  the  Word,  sent  down  out  of  heaven,  was 
changed  into  falsity  in  its  descent  through  the  hells  (n.  2S8). 

TYRE,  one  of  the  kingdoms  in  which  the  Ancient  Church  existed  and  in  which 
the  Ancient  Word  was  known  (n.  328). 

ULTIMATES  (see  OUTMOSTS). 

UNDERSTAND.  —  Two  ways  to  perceive  rationally:  in  one  man  sees  in  himself 
that  a  thing  is  so,  and  in  the  other  he  understands  it  by  means  of 
reasons  (n.  150[2]).  Understanding  is  the  consort  or  mate  of  willing, 
without  which  it  cannot  exist;  and  in  the  measure  of  your  willing  you 
have  the  ability  to  understand  (n.  96[2]). 

UNDERSTANDING  (THE),  which  is  man's  internal  sight,  is  illumined  by  spiritual 
light,  just  as  the  eye,  or  man's  external  sight,  is  illumined  by  natural 
light  (n.  166).  There  is  an  internal  understanding  and  an  external  un- 
derstanding (n.  111[2J). 

UNDERSTANDING  AND  WILL.—  In  every  man,  good  or  evil,  there  are  two  facul- 
ties, one  of  which  constitutes  the  understanding,  the  other  the  will  (n. 
285[i]).  The  faculty  that  constitutes  the  understanding  is  an  ability  to 
understand  and  think.  The  faculty  that  constitutes  the  will  is  an  abil- 
ity to  do  these  things  freely,  that  is,  to  think  and  consequently  f  o  speak 
and  to  act  in  any  way  not  contrary  to  reason  or  rationality  (n.  285[i]). 
Without  rationality  and  liberty  man  would  not  possess  will  and  under- 
standing, and  would  not  be  man  (n.  96[2]).  An  understanding  has  been 
given  to  man,  and  this  is  separated  from  the  will,  to  the  end  that  he 
may  know,  understand,  and  acknowledge  what  is  good  and  what  is  evil, 
and  see  what  his  will  is  (n.  278a[i]).  Man's  understanding  is  a  recipient 
of  both  good  and  evil  and  of  both  truth  and  falsity,  but  his  will  itself  is 
not.  This  must  be  either  in  evil  or  in  good  ;  it  cannot  be  in  both  (fc. 
284).  The  will's  love  inspires  the  understanding  with  whatever  it  desires, 
and  not  the  reverse;  it  even  destroys  in  the  understanding  every  thing 
that  is  not  from  itself  (n.  209).  Understanding  apart  from  will  cannot 
think  anything,  or  see  or  feel  anything,  or  say  or  do  anything  (n.  3fiJ). 
Man's  life's  will  is  led  and  his  life's  understanding  is  taught  by  the  Lord 
alone  (n.  156). 


INDEX  597 

UNION.  )  — The  Lord's  Divine  providence  continually  labors  to  unite  truth 

UNITY.  )  with  good  and  good  with  truth  in  man,  because  such  union  is  the 
church  and  is  heaven  (n.  21).  The  union  of  love  and  wisdom  called  the 
marriage  of  good  and  truth  (n.  7).  The  greater  the  number  ot  those 
that  enter  into  the  form  of  the  Divine  love,  which  is  the  form  of  forms, 
the  more  perfect  the  unity  becomes  (n.  62).  The  union  of  charity  and 
faith  and  of  the  will  and  understanding  (n.  82). 

UNITE.— To  unite  all  affections  into  the  form  of  heaven  is  possible  only  to  Him 
who  is  love  itself  and  also  wisdom  itself,  and  who  is  at  once  Infinite  anu 
Eternal  (n.  63).  The  unceasing  object  of  the  Divine  providence  is  to 
unite  good  to  truth  and  truth  to  good  in  man,  for  thus  man  is  united  to 
the  Lord  (n.  21). 

UNIVERSAL.— In  every  form,  the  general  and  the  particular,  or  the  universal 
and  the  special,  by  wonderful  conjunction  act  as  one  (n.  180[4]).  That 
is  called  universal  which  is  made  up  of  particular  things  taken  together, 
like  any  general  thing  that  exists  from  its  particulars  (n.  201(2]).  A  uni- 
versal apart  from  any  particular  is  nothing  (n.  2786[i]).  The  Divine  is 
universal  from  its  least  particulars,  and  it  is  these  Divine  particulars 
that  are  called  the  universal  (n.  294[6]).  The  Lord's  Divine  providence 
is  universal  from  the  minutest  particulars  (n.  202[i]). .  To  acknowledge 
God  and  to  refiam  from  doing  evil  because  it  is  against  God  are  the  two 
universals  of  the  church  (n.  326[9,io],  328[i]).  (See  PARTICULAR,  PAR- 
TICULARS, SINGLE,  SINGLY.) 

UNIVERSE  (THE),  with  each  thing  and  all  things  therein,  was  created  from  Di- 
vine love  by  means  of  Divine  wisdom  (n.  3).  The  Lord  did  not  create 
the  universe  for  His  own  sake  but  for  the  sake  of  those  with  whom  He  is 
to  be  in  heaven  (n.  27b]).  God  created  the  universe  and  all  things 
thereof  from  Himself  and  not  from  nothing  (n.  46(3]). 

USE  is  a  good,  and  from  the  understanding  which  is  conjoined  or  adjoined  to 
the  use  it  has  relation  to  truth;  and  from  that  the  use  has  its  quality 
(n.  life]).  By  uses  goods  are  meant ;  and  therefore  doing  uses  or  goods 
means  serving  others  and  ministering  to  them  (n.  215[n]).  Uses  are 
the  goods  that  are  called  the  goods  of  charity  (n.  220[s]).  By  uses  are 
not  meant  merely  the  necessaries  of  life,  which  have  relation  to  food, 
clothing,  and  habitation  for  the  individual  and  those  dependent  on  him, 
but  also  the  good  of  one's  country,  of  society,  and  of  the  fellow  citizen 
(n.  220Ui]>.  They  who  are  in  the  love  of  self  and  of  the  world  perform 
uses  for  the  sake  of  reputation  or  gain,  thus  for  the  sake  of  self;  while 
those  who  perform  uses  do  this  from  the  Lord,  and  not  from  self  (n. 
215[i2],  217[2,3]).  One  who  is  led  by  the  devil  performs  uses  for  the  sake 
of  self  and  the  world ;  but  one  who  is  led  by  the  Lord  peforms  uses  for 
the  sake  of  the  Lord  and  heaven  (n.  215[is]).  All  who  shun  evils  as  sins 
perform  uses  from  the  Lord,  while  all  who  do  not  shun  evils  as  sins  per- 
form uses  from  the  devil  (n.  215[is]).  The  Lord's  dominion  is  a  domin- 
ion of  uses  (n.  26,  25013]).  The  Lord  provides  that  there  shall  be  in  hell 
no  person  by  whom,  or  no  thing  by  means  of  which,  some  use  is  not 
accomplished  (n  26).  Through  His  Divine  providence  the  Lord  con- 
joins Himself  with  natural  things  by  means  of  spiritual  things,  and 
with  temporal  things  by  means  of  eternal  things  according  to  uses  (n. 
220[4]).  The  Lord  conjoins  Himself  with  uses  by  means  of  correspond- 
ences, and  thus  by  means  of  appearances  in  accordance  with  the  con- 
firmations of  these  by  man  (n.  220[6]).  To  whatever  heiorht  the  love  of 
self  climbs  the  lust  of  performing  uses  for  the  sake  of  its  own  glory 
.burns  in  it  (n.  250(3]).  The  Lord  leads  man  into  a  love  of  uses  that  he 
may  esteem  eminence  not  for  his  own  sake  but  for  the  sake  of  uses  (n. 
183[4J).  The  wicked  perform  uses  equally  with  the  good,  and  the  evil 
from  their  fire  with  more  ardor  than  the  good  (n.  252[a]). 


598  THE  'DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 

VARIATIONS  of  state  in  the  purely  organic  substances  of  the  mind  (n.  195[s], 
17918J,  319li]). 

VARIETY.— An  image  ol  the  Infinite  and  Eternal  in  the  variety  of  all  things  is 
apparent  in  this,  that  there  is  no  thing  that  is  the  same  as  another,  nor 
can  there  be  to  eternity  (n.  56[2]).  Variety  is  infinite  and  eternal  (n. 
56[2l).  In  every  matter  from  the  greatest  to  the  least  of  it  there  must  be 
variety  (n.  24).  The  changing  can  have  existence  only  in  the  constant, 
the  fixed,  and  the  sure.  Examples  (n.  190[i]).  The  changes  themselves 
progress  to  infinity  and  have  no  end  (n.  190[3]). 

VASTATION. — There  is  a  gradual  vastation  of  good  and  desolation  of  truth  in 
the  church  until  its  consummation  is  reached  (n.  328[7]). 

VEIL.— The  veil  that  is  between  interiors  and  exteriors,  or  between  the  spiritual 
and  the  natural  things  of  the  mind,  with  the  sensual  (n.  311[2]).  The 
sensual  finally  close  up  the  interiors  of  their  minds,  interposing  a  veil, 
as  it  were,  and  afterwards  they  think  below  the  veil,  but  not  of  any 
thing  that  is  above  it  (n.  310[i  j). 

VENA  CAVA.— The  brain  returns  the  blood  vivified  to  the  vena  cava,  and  so  back 
again  to  the  heart  (n.  296Li4]). 

VENTRICLE  (LEFT)  of  the  heart  (n.  296fi4]). 

VESSELS  (LYMPHATIC  AND  LACTEAL)  (n.  296[i4]). 

VICAR.— The  life's  love  places  a  vicar  below  itself,  which  is  called  the  love  of 
means  (n.  109). 

VICTORIES  seem  to  be  on  the  side  of  prudence,  and  sometimes  not  on  the  side 
of  justice,  because  man  judges  from  the  appearance  (n.  252[i],  251ts,6]). 

VIOLENCE.— He  that  upholds  evil  loves  does  violence  to  Divine  goods ;  and  he 
who  upholds  false  principles  does  violence  to  Divine  truths  (n.  231[3]). 

VIRGINS  (THE  FOOLISH).— Those  that  acknowledge  truths  with  the  lips  but  do 
not  with  the  heart,  are  like  the  foolish  virgins  who  had  lamps  but  no 
oil,  and  were  not  admitted  to  the  wedding  (n.  328[9]). 

VISCERA  (n.  180[4],  27917],  296[i4]). 

VISIONARY. — Diabolical  visions  have  sometimes  appeared,  induced  by  enthus- 
iastic and  visionary  spirits,  who,  from  the  delirium  that  possessed  them 
called  themselves  the  Holy  Spirit  (n.  134a[3]).  (See  VISIONS.) 

VISIONS.— No  one  is  reformed  by  visions,  or  by  conversations  with  the  dead,  be- 
cause they  compel  (n.  134a[i,3]).  Visions  are  of  two  kinds,  Divine  and 
diabolical.  Divine  visions  are  produced  by  means  of  representations  in 
heaven,  and  diabolical  visions  by  means  of  magic  in  hell  (n.  134o[i]). 
There  are  also  fantastic  visions,  which  are  delusions  of  an  abstracted 
mind  (n.  134a[i,3]).  Divine  visions  which  are  produced  by  means  of  re- 
presentations in  heaven  are  such  as  the  prophets  had,  who  were  not  in 
the  body  but  in  the  spirit  when  they  were  in  these  visions;  for  visions 
cannot  appear  to  any  one  in  the  waking  states  of  the  mind  (n.  134a[i]). 
Such  visions  do  not  take  place  at  the  present  day ;  if  they  did  they  would 
not  be  understood,  because  they  are  produced  by  means  of  representa- 
tion, each  one  of  which  is  significative  of  the  internal  things  of  the 
church  and  the  arcana  of  heaven  (n.  134a[s]).  Diabolical  visions  have 
sometimes  appeared,  induced  by  enthusiastic  and  visionary  spirits  (n. 
134a[3l).  It  was  foretold  by  Daniel  (Dan.  ix.  24)  that  visions  would  cease 
when  the  Lord  came  into  the  world  (n.  134a[3]). 

VITAL  HEAT  is  from  the  delights  of  the  affections  and  from  the  enjoyments  of 
the  perceptions  and  thoughts  (n.  19501). 

VOLITION.— The  volition  of  every  good  and  the  understanding  of  every  truth  are 
not  from  man  but  from  the  Lord  (n.  33). 

WARS.— All  wars,  however  much  they  may  belong  to  civil  affairs,  represent  in 
heaven  the  states  of  the  church,  and  are  correspondences  (n.  251[3]). 
Such  were  all  the  wars  described  in  the  Word,  and  such  also  are  all 
wars  at  this  day  (n.  251[s]).  It  is  not  known  in  this  world  what  king- 


INDEX  599 

doms  in  Christendom  answer  to  the  Moabites  and  Ammonites,  what  to 
the  Syrians  and  Philistines,  or  what  to  the  Chaldeans  and  Assyrians, 
and  the  others  with  whom  the  children  of  Israel  waged  war,  and  yet 
there  are  those  that  do  answer  to  them  (n.  251[4J).  Why  there  are  wars, 
and  why  the  Lord  does  not  check  them  (n.  251(2,3]). 

WASHING.— To  "  wash  "  means  to  cleanse  from  evils.  "  Washing  the  head  and 
the  hands"  (John  xiii.  8-10)  means  to  cleanse  the  internal  man;  and 
."washing  the  feet"  means  to  cleanse  the  external  man  (n.  151[2]). 

WAY. — The  Lord  enters  into  man  through  no  other  than  an  internal  way, 
which  is  through  the  Word,  and  doctrine  and  preaching  from  the  Word 
(n.  131).  In  the  spiritual  world  there  are  actually  ways  that  lead  to 
every  society  of  heaven  and  to  every  society  of  hell  (n.  60).  There  is  a 
way  there  for  every  love,  and  the  love  reveals  the  way  and  leads  one  to 
his  fellows.  Other  ways  than  the  way  of  his  love  no  one  sees  (n.  60). 
Every  man  after  death  goes  the  way  of  his  own  love,  he  that  is  in  a  good 
love  to  heaven,  and  he  that  is  in  an  evil  love  to  hell  (n.  31914]).  In  what 
is  angelic  there  is  present  a  .knowledge  of  the  way  from  walking  in  it, 
and  a  walking  in  the  way  through  a  knowledge  of  it  (n.  60). 

WEALTH. — The  Lord  never  leads  man  away. . .  .from  acquiring  wealth,  but  only 
leads  him  away  from  acquiring  wealth  for  the  sake  of  mere  opulence, 
that  is,  for  the  sake  of  riches  (n.  183(4]). 

WHOREDOMS  have  their  source  in  the  love  of  self  (n.  276[2]).  In  the  Word  falsi- 
fications of  truth  are  depicted  by  whoredoms  (n.  233[io]). 

WICKED  (see  EVIL). 

WIFE.— A  wife  in  the  Word  signifies  the  church  (n.  245).  In  the  Word  heaven 
and  the  church  are  called  "the  bride"  and  "the  wife"  (n.  8).  The 
seven  hundred  wives  of  Solomon  represented  the  various  religions  of 
the  world  (n.  245).  (See  MARRIAGE.) 

WILL  AND  LOVE.— The  will  and  the  love  act  as  one  (n.  96[s]).  Man's  internal 
will  is  that  which  is  in  the  lusts,  and  the  external  will  is  that  which  is  in 
the  enjoyments  of  the  lusts  (n.  lllb]).  If  you  should  withdraw  willing 
from  doing  work  would  stop  (n.  3[2]).  Man's  will  runs  counter  to  the 
Lord's  will  (n.  21914]).  It  is  the  will  of  the  Lord  that  causes  the  appear- 
ance in  man  that  what  he  thinks,  speaks,  wills,  and  does  is  his  own  (n. 
96'=;]).  It  is  the  inflow  of  the  Lord's  will  that  does  this  (n.  96[6]).  The 
internal  of  the  will  conjoins  itself  with  the  internal  of  the  understand- 
ing and  makes  the  conjunction  to  be  reciprocal  (n.  13618]).  (See  UNDER- 
STANDING AND  WILL.) 

WILL  (TO).— Willing  is  not  possible  apart  from  understanding;  understanding 
is  its  consort  or  mate,  without  which  it  cannot  exist  (n.  %[>]).  There  is 
in  man  an  interior  and  an  exterior  willing,  and  he  can  act  in  accord- 
ance with  the  exterior  and  not  at  the  same  time  in  accordance  with  the 
interior  (n.  89).  All  willing  is  of  love  and  has  relation  to  good  (n.  11[2], 
89).  To  will  apart  from  knowing,  perceiving,  and  thinking  what  one 
wills  is  not  anything;  but  together  with  these  it  becomes  something 
(n.  11[2]).  (See  TO  THINK  AND  TO  WILL.) 

WINGS  signify  spiritual  truths  (n.  20). 

WISDOM  is  conjunction  with  the  Lord  (n.  36).  Wisdom  not  conjoined  with  love 
is  like  a  meteor  vanishing  in  the  air  (n.  35).  There  are  three  degrees  of 
wisdom,  the  natural,  the  spiritual,  and  the  celestial,  and  these  are  op- 
ened in  the  measure  of  love  (n.  34[i,2]).  Wisdom  can  be  elevated  in  a  tri- 
plicate ratio,  and  in  each  degree  in  a  simple  ratio  to  its  highest  point  (n. 
34[2]).  These  three  degrees  are  not  connected  continuously,  but  they 
are  conjoined  by  correspondences  (n.  34[g]).  Wisdom  that  comes  to 
perception  is  a  perception  of  truth  from  an  affection  for  it  (n.  36).  Wis- 
dom that  increases  to  eternity  is  without  end.  If  wisdom  with  a  wise 
man  were  to  come  to  an  end  'the  delight  of  his  wisdom,  which  consists 
_  in  the  perpetual  multiplication  and  fructification  of  wisdom,  would  per- 
ish (n.  335[2]).  A  man  may  be  admitted  into  the  wisdom  of  spiritual 


600  THE  WINE  'PROVIDENCE 

things,  and  also  into  a  love  for  them,  and  yet  not  be  reformed  (n.  222). 
Angelic  wisdom  is  ineffable  (n.  34[3]).  There  is  no  such  approximation 
of  angelic  wisdom  to  the  Divine  wisdom  as  to  come  near  it  (n.  335(9J). 
(See  LOVE  AND  WISDOM.) 

WISE. — The  more  closely  a  man  is  conjoined  with  the  Lord  the  wiser  he  be 
comes  (n.  34[i]).  No  one  is  wise  from  himself,  but  only  from  the  Lord 
(n.  36).  Those  are  wise  from  the  Lord  who  cast  out  the  devil,  that  is, 
evil,  from  themselves  (n  34[3]). 

WITHDRAWAL  FROM  EVIL  (THE),  is  effected  by  the  Lord  in  a  thousand  ways, 
and  even  in  most  secret  ways  (n.  296[ioJ). 

WOLVES.— They  who  are  in  their  own  prudence  are  like  wolves  and  foxes  (n. 
311(31). 

WOMB.— Every  man  is  formed  by  the  Lord  in  the  womb  into  the  image  and 
likeness  of  God  (n.  330|i]). 

WORD.— The  Lord  is  the  Word  because  the  Word  is  from  Him  and  treats  of 
Him ;  and  because  it  is  the  Divine  truth  of  the  Divine  good  (n.  172[2,3]). 
All  doctrine  of  the  church  must  be  drawn  from  the  Word  (n.  172[i]). 
When  man  is  taught  from  the  Word  he  is  taught  from  the  Lord  (n. 
172[5l).  No  one  is  tauarht  immediately  from  heaven,  but  mediately 
through  the  Word  (n.  265[s]).  All  things  of  the  Word  have  communica- 
tion with  heaven,  and  with  the  Lord  Himself  (n.  172[2|).  There  is  a 
presence  of  the  Lord  and  of  heaven  wherever  the  Word  is  read  with 
reverence  (n.  26013]).  Tne  whole  Word  is  nothing  but  a  doctrine  of  life 
(n.  330(7]).  The  Papists  do  not  read  it;  and  the  Reformed,  who  are  in 
faith  separated  from  charity,  pay  no  attention  to  what  relates  to  life  in 
it,  but  only  to  what  relates  to  faith  (n.  330(7],  264[2]).  Why  hitherto  men 
have  not  known  that  there  is  a  spiritual  sense  in  all  the  particulars  of 
the  Word,  and  that  its  holiness  is  therefrom  (n.  264[i,6]).  Those  have 
light  therefrom  who  are  outside  of  the  church  and  do  not  have  the 
Word  (n.  256[2j).  All  who  are  taught  by  the  Lord  in  the  Word  are  taught 
a  few  truths  in  the  world,  but  many  when  they  become  angels  (n.  172(5]). 
The  interiors  of  the  Word,  although  implanted  in  the  mind  while  in  the 
world,  are  not  opened  in  man  until  after  his  death  (n.  172[5J).  The  Word 
is  written  throughout  wholly  in  correspondences  (n.  266(4]).  Whenever 
any  spirit  opens  the  Word  and  rubs  his  face  or  his  clothing  against  it, 
his  face  or  clothing  shines  from  the  mere  rubbing  as  brightly  as  the 
moon  or  a  star,  and  this  in  sight  of  all  whom  he  meets  (n.  256U1). 

WORKING  (see  OPERATION). 

WORKS  (see  DEEDS). 

WORLD.— All  things  that  take  place  in  the  natural  world  correspond  to  spiritual 
things  in  the  spiritual  world,  and  every  thing  spiritual  has  relation  to 
the  church  (n.  251(4]).  There  is  nothing  in  the  natural  world  unconnect- 
ed with  the  spiritual  world  (n.  74(3]). 

WORLD  OF  SPIRITS  (THE)  is  intermediate  between  heaven  and  hell  (n.  307(3]). 
As  long  as  a  man  lives  m  the  world  his  external  is  governed  in  the 
world  of  spirits  (n.  30713]).  When  a  man  dies  he  first  enters  the  world 
of  spirits  and  there  comes  into  his  external,  which  is  there  put  off;  and 
when  freed  from  this  he  is  borne  into  his  own  place,  to  which  he  has 
been  assigned  (n.  307f3j). 

WORLD  (THE  CHRISTIAN).— Why  the  whole  Christian  world  worships  one  God 
under  three  persons,  which  is  to  worship  three  Gods,  not  knowing 
hitherto  that  God  is  one  in  person  and  essence,  in  whom  is  a  trinity, 
and  that  the  Lord  is  that  God  (n.  262).  Why  there  have  been  and  still 
are  so  many  heresies  in  the  Christian  world  (n.  259[i]). 

WORSHIP.— To  compel  men  to  Divine  worship  by  threats  and  punishments  is 
pernicious  (n.  136(4]).  Compelled  worship  shuts  in  evils,  and  evils  then 
lie  hidden  like  tire  in  wood  under  ashes,  which  is  continually  kindling 
and  spreading  till  it  breaks  out  in  flames  (n.  13614]).  Worship  not  com- 
pelled, but  spontaneous,  does  not  shut  evils  in,  and  in  consequence 
these  are  like  fires  that  blaze  up  quickly  and  are  gone  (n.  136(4]).  A  com- 


INDEX  601 

pelled  internal  is  possible  in  such  as  are  in  the  internal  of  worship.  It 
may  be  an  internal  compelled  by  fear,  or  an  internal  compelled  by  love 
(n.  136[9]).  Compelled  worship  is  corporeal,  lifeless,  darkened,  and  sad 
(n.  137).  Worship  not  compelled,  when  it  is  genuine,  is  spiritual,  living, 
clear,  and  joyful  (n.  137).  Among  the  ancients  all  worship  was  repre- 
sentative, consisting  of  pure  correspondences  (n.  255[2]).  Of  those  who 
worship  the  sun  and  moon,  believing  God  to  be  there,  and  of  others  who 
worship  idols  and  graven  images  (n.  254[sl).  In  places  of  worship  in  the 
spiritual  world  every  one  knows  his  own  place  (n.  338U]). 

WORSHIPPER. — Things  enumerated  that  confirm  every  worshipper  of  himself 
and  of  nature  against  the  Divine  providence  (n.  249-253).  Of  those  who 
are  worshippers  of  self  and  the  world;  worshippers  of  nature;  worship- 
pers of  men  and  of  images,  and  worshippers  of  the  Lord  (n.  154[>1). 

YOKE.— Concerning  those  who  from  their  religion  believe  that  they  are  not  un- 
der the  yoke  of  the  law  (n.  42,  101). 

ZEAL.— There  are  some  who  seem  to  be  in  a  blaze  of  zeal  for  the  salvation  of 
souls,  and  yet  this  may  be  from  an  infernal  fire  (n.  139[6J). 


INDEX    OF    SCRIPTURE    PASSAGES. 


NOTE.— In  this  Index, 

Full-faced  figures,  ...  I,  3,     designate  verse*  fully  quoted  : 

preceded  by  points,  ..I,        show  that  beginning  of  versr  is  not  cited; 

with  points  above,  i,        that  part  of  the  middle  has  brrn  Irft  out; 

followed  by  points,  I..,     that  the  end  of  the  verse  is  not  s:ivrn: 

The  omission  of  one  word  is  indicated  by  one  dot ;   of  two  or  three 

words  by  two  dots  ;  of  four  or  more  words  by  three  dots. 

Italic  figures, I,  3,     designate  verses  given  in  substance : 

Small  figures  inparen- 


The  small  figures  in  brackets  refer  to  subdivisions  of  paragraphs. 

GENESIS. 

II  SAMUEL. 

i.  (26,)  

•?28[sl 

xxiv     i 

(26,  27,)  

I23M 

(Chap,  cited,)  .... 

24l[l] 

I   KINGS. 

iii.  i...,  

3  lofsj 

r  i 

xi.  (3,)  

...  245 

15...,  

.....2Il[l] 

•^T-O 

. 

ISAIAH. 

EXODUS, 
xx.  7,  
xxxii.  2,  5,  35, 
4-6,  
(Chap,  cited,)  

230[2] 
132 
132 
243 

i.  6,  16,  17...,) 

...1  8.   20... 

vi.  p,  20,  
xiv.  4,  22,  

4...,  ...22...,  
12,  

.278^5] 
....260[2] 
.     23I[5] 

...    257[2] 

LEVITICUS. 

i'i...,  13,  14, 

-  257W 

iii.  (17,)  

23I[9] 

(Chap,  cited,)  

...  23l[5J 

vii    (23-25  ) 

2  -7  T["Q"| 

xl.   (17,  23,)  

•••  3°9[3] 

I   SAMUEL. 

JEREMIAH. 

V.    (Chap,  cited,)  

326[u] 

vii.   2...,  3~.,  4,  9'",\ 

vi.   (Chap,  cited,)  

.  ..  -326[n] 

10,    i'i,        j 

...12   [5] 

INI 

EZEKIEL. 

i.   (Chap,  cite 
viii.  3  seq.,  
x.   (Chap,  cite 
xi.   i...,  24,  .... 

Xl.     (2,   26,)-... 

xl.-xlviii.  (Chaps 
xllii.  (5,)  

DANIEL, 
ii    32   33 

3£X  OF  SC/J/P' 

/,)  I344i] 
I344i] 
i,)  I344i] 
—  13441] 
I344i] 
.  cited,)  13441] 
litAa\'i\ 

TURE  PASSAGES 
(24.)  

(•>A--)"1  \ 

603 
—  13443] 

X. 

HOSE 
vii. 

ZECH 
i. 

ii. 

iv. 

V. 

vi. 

(i,7,8,)  

A. 

(4) 

13442] 
284. 

ARIAH. 
(Bseg.,)  
(18,)  
(i-3  seq  ) 

i34a[2J 

13442] 

vii.   /  seq.,  

13442] 
I34a[2] 

(iseq.,)  
(1,6,)  
(i  seq  ) 

13442] 
13442] 

ix.  (21,)  

MATTHEW. 
v.  ...8,  
-28,  
...36, 

37,- 
45,- 
-45,— 
vi.  .~9,  

13442] 

...25,  30, 

(31,  32,)  

32 

233[2] 

9^3] 
23  1  [6] 

33t5J 

IH[2],   152 
159 

173 

230[2] 
2I7[6] 

264[3] 

xii. 
xiii. 

XV. 

xvi. 

xviii. 

xix. 

XX. 

xxi. 
xxii. 

23  1  [8] 

(43-45),  

7,-**,  

12 

133 
227IYI 

12,  

(13,)  
/c 

17 
23I[9] 

«4-,  
vii.  7,  9,  ii, 
...13,  14, 
19,  20, 

22,  23,  ... 
(22,)  

-18,  233[2] 
250[5] 

-33, 
ii,  77,  /<?,. 

**,  

(5,20,)  

(8,9.)  
2O,  
21,  22,  
(29))  

...26,  27,  . 

(o  ) 

25 
80 
I28[2] 

324k] 

256[2] 
280 
..230[2],  324[5] 

24,  26, 

viii.  ii,  12...,  . 

T^OM 

x.  ...16,  

...22,  

(22,)  
4.1.  42,..-. 

231  [9] 
230[2] 

-43,  

I28[2] 
....223 

604                               THE  'DIVINE  'PROVIDENCE 
xxiii    9                              77oTTl                 (IA—AR  \ 

I7Qfl] 

xxiv.  (9,  10,)  
(Chap,  cited,)  ... 
xxv.  (14-31,),.... 
28,  29,  
29, 
(32,  33,  41-46,)  - 
...41,  
(46) 

328[4] 

2IO[2] 
17 
227[4] 

ioi[i] 

(15-21,)  

47,  

220[llJ 

xiii    i  i 

II4l2] 

...25-  ...2^.  

xvi.  8  9 

25 

...26 

loote1 

27-3T,  .... 

xviii    (30  ) 

134* 

124.M 

xxviii.(i8,)  

MARK. 

i-  -4,  -- 
...14,  ...15,  
iv.  7,  /p,  

12 

245,  33o[6] 

262[6] 
278[3] 

xix.  (13—28  ) 

2IO[2] 
17 
227[4] 

24,  26,  
26,  
xx    ?d  38... 

xxi.  (Chap,  cited,)  
xxiv.  47........ 

ii4W 
280 

JOHN, 
i    ...i   4 

156 

25,  
vi.  12,  

X      (17  ) 

..17,  227[4] 

(12,)  '  

xiii.  /j,  ... 
(Chap,  cited,)... 

LUKE, 
iii.  ~3,  
8-,  9,  
vi     ?7      •tS 

23l[9] 
328[4] 

ii4l>],  280 
ii4l>] 

ii.  (19,  21,)  
(23,)  
iii.  ...3,  
(15,16,36,)  
(17,18,)  

245 

82 
324^] 

230[2] 

46,  47...,  48, 

80 
49.-,  9  1  [3] 

I28[l] 

•••27 

159 
88,  173 

23I[8] 

324t5] 
159 

I28[2] 

324[5] 
324t5l 

I72[2] 

I45U] 

I28[5] 

27 

v.  ...14,  

(24,  25,  39,)  
26,.... 

(40,)  
vi.   (27,40,  68,)  

viii.  (31-36,)  
ix.  31,  

viii.  7,  14,  

10,  

x.  (25,)  

278[3] 
26o[2] 

-17,  227[4] 
I28[2] 

324^] 

xii.  (i,)  
6,  7,  25,  26, 
27-.,    28, 

284 

'  332U] 

INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURE  PASSAGES 


605 


4.1. 

2"U[2] 

12-16,  

I34a[3] 

«.*4.I.** 

r      -| 

ii.  i...,  2...,  4,  ...5...,  . 

•••*•••*•*••>  •  ••• 
x.  /,  

23O[_4] 

..I28[4] 

2,3,  9-,"- 

....23O[4] 

12...,  13...,  16..., 

..I28[4] 

xi.  •••2'% 

159 

18...,  *9,  

..I28[4] 

xii.  (13,28,)  

230[2] 

iii.  i",  ...2,  ...3...,  

..I28[4] 

40,  23i[ 

9],  260[2] 

7-..,  8..., 

.I28[4] 

(50,)  

-  324E5] 

X4...,  15...,  ...19, 

I28[4] 

xiii.  ...8,  9,  10...,  

I5I[2] 

15,  16,  18 

,  23  1  [8] 

17,  

I28[3] 

*o,  33[2],  119 

,  233[s] 

xiv.  ...6...,  

159 

iv.  (2,)  

I34«t3] 

(14-16,)  

...230[2] 

(Chap,  cited,)  

13443] 

(I5,)  21,  ...23-.., 

I28[3] 

V.  (i,)  

!344s] 

19,  

-  324ts] 

(Chap,  cited,)  

i34«[3] 

20,  

26  3  [2! 

vi.   (i,)  

I34fl[3] 

20 

02 

(Chap,  cited,)  

20-24......  

....I72[2] 

viii.  (Chap,  cited,)  

I34a[3] 

21...,  ...23,  

33[5] 

ix.   (Chap,  cited,)  

13443] 

21—24 

326r6l 

xii    ...3 

XV.   (i-7,)...-  

•  -•  O       LUJ 

AU«      •*•«>;  

(9,)  

3io[5] 

4-,  -5,  V-- 

30,  92[i] 

(Chap,  cited,)  

I34a[3] 

4...,  5,  6~.,  

....263[2] 

xiii.  (Chap,  cited,)  

i34a[3] 

-5,  

159 

xiv.  i*3,  

I28[4] 

5,  88[2],i73 

xvii.   (Chap,  cited,)  

13443] 

7,  

....I72[2] 

xviii.   (Chap,  cited,)  

13443] 

14,  ...T6...,  

I28[3] 

xix.   (n,  16-18,)  

264[4] 

xvi.  (23,24,26,  27,)  

230[2] 

(Chap,  cited,)  

i34«[3] 

xvii.  (6,)  

....230[2] 

XX.    ...12,  (13,)  

I28[4] 

(22,23,)  

263[2] 

xxi.  (1,2,)  

13443] 

XX.    (3I,)  230[ 

2],  324t5] 

(i,)5—>  

264[4] 

(18-21,)  

264[4] 

ROMANS. 

•  i 

r  i 

iii.  ...28,  31, 

(Chap,  cited,)  j 

263[2] 

xxii.   (i,  2,)  

264[4] 

APOCALYPSE 

12 

T^Rfyd 

i.  (10,)  

-13443] 

<«*•««*•>  {'^] 

#PB-7200-29 
75-35T 
C 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


30112001400107 


